Application of PECVD for bulk and surface passivation of high efficiency silicon solar cells

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) passivation of bulk and surface defects has been shown to be an important technique to improve the performance of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) and single crystalline silicon solar cells. In this paper, we report the status of our on-going investigation into the bulk and surface passivation properties of PECVD insulators for photovoltaic applications. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the ability of PECVD films to passivate the front (emitter) surface, bulk, and back surface by proper tailoring of deposition and post-PECVD annealing conditions.