Title
PECVD-AlO<inf>x</inf>/SiN<inf>x</inf> passivation stacks on silicon: Effective charge dynamics and interface defect state spectroscopy
Date Issued
01 January 2014
Access level
open access
Resource Type
conference paper
Author(s)
Laades A.
Leendertz C.
Korte L.
Sturzebecher U.
Sperlich H.
Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics
Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics
Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
The charge dynamics and the interface defect state density of AlOx/SiNx passivation stacks deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers are investigated. High frequency (1 MHz) capacitance voltage (C-V) measurements were performed on stacks in the as deposited state and after an annealing step. C-V sweeps reveal an initially high negative charge density for the as deposited sample, activated by the thermal budget during SiNx deposition. However, this charge state is unstable and reduced owning to electron detrapping and emission into the c-Si upon applying moderate voltages. In the annealed sample, the AlOx/SiNx stack has a stable negative fixed charge. Both for as deposited and for annealed samples, applying a positive or negative constant gate voltage stress (Vstress) enhances or reduces the negative effective charge density (Qox,eff), respectively. Injection of charges from the c-Si into traps in the AlOx/SiNx stack is identified as the mechanism responsible for this behavior. We conclude that in addition to fixed negative charges trapping of negative charges near the interface is a crucial mechanism contributing to the total effective negative charge of the stack. Their contribution depends on the temperature and duration of the thermal treatment. Additionally, a large Vstress leads to generation of additional Si dangling bond defects over the entire c-Si bang gap at the c-Si/AlOx interface.
Start page
845
End page
854
Volume
55
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Física de partículas, Campos de la Física Ingeniería eléctrica, Ingeniería electrónica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84922281200
Source
Energy Procedia
ISSN of the container
18766102
Conference
Energy Procedia
Sponsor(s)
The authors would like to thank Tim Henckel and Anne Budack for the technical support, Manfred Schmidt and Walter Füssel for the helpful discussions. This work was funded by the EU project NanoPV (FP7-NMP3-SL-2011-246331).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus