Sensing amorphous/crystalline silicon surface passivation by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy of amorphous silicon on glass -=SUP=-*-=/SUP=-

Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FTIR) spectroscopy and effective lifetime measurements have been used to characterize amorphous/crystalline silicon surface passivation in silicon heterojunction solar cells. The comparative studies show a strong link between microstructure factor R* and effective lifetime of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) passivation layers incorporating an interface buffer layer, which prevents the epitaxial growth. It is demonstrated that thin a-Si:H films deposited on glass can be used as ATR substrates in this case. The obtained results show that a-Si:H films with R* close to 0.1 are required for manufacturing of high-efficiency (>23%) silicon heterojunction solar cells.