Hydrogen monitoring during fabrication of passivating contacts for application in high-efficiency c-Si solar cells

Photovoltaics technologies based on crystalline silicon (c-Si) are key for the transition to a 100% renewable energy production. Recently, the increase of c Si solar cell efficiency relies on the integration of ‘passivating contacts’, consisting of thin films implemented at the metal/c-Si interface. Hydrogen incorporation plays a key role to passivate defects at the c-Si surface. Although virtually all c¬ Si solar cell structures rely on hydrogen incorporation to reduce recombination associated with a variety of limiting defects, the properties of hydrogen in Si are poorly understood. We propose to study the hydrogen incorporation in passivating contacts with in situ neutron reflectometry measurements. This will allow us to understand the mechanisms of hydrogen diffusion and defect passivation in these contacts, ultimately driving the fabrication of higher efficiency c-Si solar cells.