Characterization of μc-Si:H/a-Si:H tandem solar cell structures by spectroscopic ellipsometry

In order to perform the structural characterization of Si thin-film solar cells having submicron-size rough textured surfaces, we have developed an optical model that can be utilized for the spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) analysis of a multilayer solar cell structure consisting of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) layers fabricated on textured SnO₂:F substrates. To represent the structural non-uniformity in the textured structure, the optical response has been calculated from two regions with different thicknesses of the Si layers. Moreover, in the optical model, the interface layers are modeled by multilayer structures assuming two-phase composites and the volume fractions of the phases in the layers are controlled by the structural curvature factor. The polarized reflection from the μc-Si:H layer that shows extensive surface roughening during the growth has also been modeled. In this study, a state-of-the-art solar cell structure with the textured μc-Si:H (2000 nm)/ZnO (100 nm)/a-Si:H (200 nm)/SnO₂:F/glass substrate structure has been characterized. The μc-Si:H/a-Si:H textured structure deduced from our SE analysis shows remarkable agreement with that observed by transmission electron microscopy. From the above results, we have demonstrated the high-precision characterization of highly-textured μc-Si:H/a-Si:H solar cell structures. - Highlights: • Characterization of textured μc-Si:H/a-Si:H solar cell structures by ellipsometry • A new optical model using surface area and multilayer models • High precision characterization of submicron-range rough interface structures