Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of boron-doped layers in amorphous thin film silicon solar cells

Duchamp, Martial; Soppe, W. J.; Moreno, S. M.; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal; Boothroyd, Christopher Brian; van Aken, B. B.

doi:10.1063/1.4793587

Journal Article

FZJ-2014-01854

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of boron-doped layers in amorphous thin film silicon solar cells

Duchamp, M. (Corresponding Author)FZJ* ; Boothroyd, C. B.FZJ* ; Moreno, S. M. ; van Aken, B. B. ; Soppe, W. J. ; Dunin-Borkowski, R.FZJ*

2013
American Institute of Physics Melville, NY

Journal of applied physics 113, 093513 (2013) [10.1063/1.4793587]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/16799 doi:10.1063/1.4793587

Abstract: Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is used to study p-doped layers in n-i-p amorphous thin film Si solar cells grown on steel foil substrates. For a solar cell in which an intrinsic amorphous hydrogenated Si (a-Si-H) layer is sandwiched between 10-nm-thick n-doped and p-doped a-Si:H layers, we assess whether core-loss EELS can be used to quantify the B concentration. We compare the shape of the measured B K edge with real space ab initio multiple scattering calculations and show that it is possible to separate the weak B K edge peak from the much stronger Si L edge fine structure by using log-normal fitting functions. The measured B concentration is compared with values obtained from secondary ion mass spectrometry, as well as with EELS results obtained from test samples that contain ∼200-nm-thick a-Si:H layers co-doped with B and C. We also assess whether changes in volume plasmon energy can be related to the B concentration and/or to the density of the material and whether variations of the volume plasmon line-width can be correlated with differences in the scattering of valence electrons in differently doped a-Si:H layers.

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