Properties of phosphorous-doped large-grained microcrystalline silicon thin film and the application on HIT solar cell

Microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) thin films are prepared through plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) route under the assist of negative bias. A substrate temperature as low as 150 °C is applied during deposition. Various characterizations have been carried out for investigating the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-deposited thin films. At H₂ flow = 600 sccm, the largest μc-Si grain size of ∼300–600 nm is obtained. Furthermore, HIT solar cell devices have been prepared for verifying the effect of P-doped μc-Si thin films as the n layer.