Silicon Materials Task Of The Low Cost Solar Array Project Phase Iii Effect Of Impurities And Processing On Silicon Solar Cells Phase Iii Summary And Seventeenth Quarterly Report Volume 1

The object of Phase III of the program has been to investigate the effects of various processes, metal contaminants and contaminant-process interactions on the performance of terrestrial silicon solar cells. The study encompassed a variety of tasks including: (1) a detailed examination of thermal processing effects, such as HCl and POCl3 gettering on impurity behavior, (2) completion of the data base and modeling for impurities in n-base silicon, (3) extension of the data base on p-type material to include elements likely to be introduced during the production, refining, or crystal growth of silicon, (4) effects on cell performance on anisotropic impurity distributions in large CZ crystals and silicon webs, and (5) a preliminary assessment of the permanence of the impurity effects. Two major topics are treated: methods to measure and evaluate impurity effects in silicon and comprehensive tabulations of data derived during the study. For example, discussions of deep level spectroscopy, detailed dark I-V measurements, recombination lifetime determination, scanned laser photo-response, and conventional solar cell I-V techniques, as well as descriptions of silicon chemical analysis are included. Considerable data are tabulated on the composition, electrical, and solar cell characteristics of impurity-doped silicon.