Effect of Plasma Treatment of the Tco on a-Si Solar Cell Performance

Single junction a-Si p-i-n solar cells have been deposited by an Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) Multichamber PECVD system reaching an efficiency of 10.1% over 0.1 cm2 and 9.7% over 1 cm2. The effect of hydrogen treatments on the performance of the solar cells was studied on two different types of SnO2 coated substrates and was correlated with the I-V characteristics under AM1.5 (100 mW cm-2) illumination and the spectral response of the devices. The results show that modifications at the TCO/p-layer interface due to the hydrogen plasma treatments are strongly dependent on the initial characteristics of the TCO.