Parameters affecting the performance of Silicon solar cells obtained by laser photochemical doping

A XeCl excimer laser was used to irradiate (100) silicon samples in PCl3 vapor atmosphere at different laser fluence, gas pressure and number of pulses per frame. The incorporation of phosphorus in the melted surface layer results in carrier profiles having peak dopant concentration up to 2-3x1021 P/cm2 and junction depth ranging between 150 and 500 nm. A computer model for solar cell simulation was used in order to correlate the experimental profiles with the performace of the final devices. Some low resistivity samples were irradiated to manufacture 2x2 cm2 solar cells, showing an efficiency of 8.6% without antireflecting coating (ARC) and metal grid optimization.