Methods of emitter formation in solar cells

• US 7,776,727 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2008
• Issued: 08/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Borden, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Coleman; W. David
• Assistant Examiner(s): ENAD, CHRISTINE A
• Application Number:
  US12/202,213
• Publication Number:
  US 20090068783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 438/20, 438/57, 438/254, 438/510, 136/254
• US Class Current: 438/510
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/022425 for solar cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/028 including, apart from doping material or other impurities, only elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/068 the potential barriers being only of the PN homojunction type, e.g. bulk silicon PN homojunction solar cells or thin film polycrystalline silicon PN homojunction solar cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1804 comprising only elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1864 Annealing
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/547 Monocrystalline silicon PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention contemplate high efficiency emitters in solar cells and novel methods for forming the same. One embodiment of the improved emitter structure, called a high-low type emitter, optimizes the solar cell performance by equally providing low contact resistance to minimize ohmic losses and isolation of the high surface recombination metal-semiconductor interface from the junction to maximize cell voltage. Another embodiment, called an alternating doping type emitter, provides regions of alternating doping type for use with point contacts in the back-contact solar cells. One embodiment of the methods includes depositing and patterning a doped or undoped dielectric layer on a surface of a substrate, implanting a fast-diffusing dopant and/or a slow-diffusing dopant into the substrate either simultaneously or sequentially, and annealing the substrate to drive in the dopants. Another embodiment of the methods includes using a physical mask to form a patterned dopant distribution in a substrate.

Claims

1. A method of forming a solar cell device, comprising:

depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate;

patterning the dielectric layer to form a mask, thereby forming a pattern of exposed regions of the substrate;

disposing a first amount of a first dopant within the exposed regions of the substrate;

disposing a second amount of a second dopant within the exposed regions of the substrate, the dielectric layer, and the substrate below the dielectric layer after disposing the first dopant within the exposed regions, thereby forming a first doped region and a second doped region within the substrate, wherein the first dopant has a higher atomic mass than the second dopant; and

heating the substrate so that the first dopant diffuses a first depth within the substrate and the second dopant diffuses a second depth within the substrate, wherein the second depth of the second doped region is deeper than the first depth of the first doped region.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first dopant is an opposite doping type than the second dopant.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the concentration of the first dopant near a surface is greater than about 1×

10¹⁶ atoms/cm².

8. The method of claim 1, wherein heating the substrate comprises heating the substrate to a temperature greater than about 800°

C.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising depositing a layer on a surface of the substrate, wherein the layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first dopant is arsenic (As) and the second dopant is phosporous (P) or boron (B).

11. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first and second doped regions have a similar profile.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein disposing the first amount of the first dopant or disposing the second amount of the second dopant within the region of the substrate comprises:

providing a gas containing a dopant material into a processing region of a plasma processing chamber;

generating a plasma in the processing region; and

biasing a substrate support to cause ions generated in the plasma to be disposed in the surface of the substrate.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second depth are deepest at a point below the exposed regions of the substrate.

2. A method of forming a solar cell device, comprising:

forming a dielectric layer on a surface of a substrate;

removing a portion of the dielectric layer from the surface to expose a portion of the substrate;

disposing a first amount of a first dopant within a region of the substrate which is adjacent to the exposed portion of the substrate;

disposing a second amount of a second dopant within the region of the substrate; and

heating the substrate to cause the first dopant to diffuse a first depth within the substrate and the second dopant to diffuse a second depth within the substrate, wherein the second depth is greater than the first depth.

14. The method of claim 2, wherein

disposing the first amount of the first dopant further comprises delivering the first dopant to the surface of the substrate at a first energy level;

and

forming the dielectric layer further comprises forming a dielectric layer having a thickness large enough to substantially prevent the first dopant from being disposed in the surface of the substrate beneath the formed dielectric layer when the first dopant is delivered at the first energy level.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein the first dopant is an opposite doping type than the second dopant.

16. The method of claim 2, wherein the concentration of the first dopant in the exposed portion of the substrate is greater than about 1×

10¹⁶ atoms/cm².

17. The method of claim 2, wherein heating the substrate comprises heating the substrate to a temperature greater than about 800°

C.

18. The method of claim 2, further comprising depositing a layer on the surface of the substrate, wherein the layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide.

19. The method of claim 2, wherein the first dopant is arsenic (As) and the second dopant is phosporous (P) or boron (B).

3. A method of forming a solar cell device, comprising:

positioning a physical mask over a surface of a substrate;

disposing a first dopant into a first region of the substrate through an opening formed in the physical mask;

disposing a second dopant into the region of the substrate through the opening formed in the physical mask; and

heating the substrate to form a second region and a third region, wherein the concentration of the first dopant in the second region is greater than the second dopant concentration, the concentration of the second dopant in the third region is greater than the first dopant concentration, and the second region is closer to the surface of the substrate than the third region.

20. The method of claim 3, wherein first dopant is an opposite doping type than the second dopant.

21. The method of claim 3, wherein the concentration of the first dopant in the exposed portion of the substrate is greater than about 1×

10¹⁶ atoms/cm².

22. The method of claim 3, wherein heating the substrate comprises heating the substrate to a temperature greater than about 800°

C.

23. The method of claim 3, further comprising depositing a layer on the surface of the substrate, wherein the layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide.

24. The method of claim 3, wherein the first dopant is arsenic (As) and the second dopant is phosporous (P) or boron (B).

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising depositing a metal over the exposed first portion and the exposed second portion of the substrate.

4. A method of forming a solar cell device, comprising:

depositing a doped dielectric layer on a surface of a substrate, wherein the doped dilectric layer contains a first dopant material;

removing a first region of the doped dielectric layer from the surface to form an opening in the doped dielectric layer and thereby expose a first portion of the substrate;

disposing a second dopant material through the opening in the doped dielectric layer and within the first portion of the substrate which is adjacent to the surface of the substrate;

heating the substrate to cause the first dopant material and the second dopant material to diffuse into the substrate; and

removing a second region of the doped dielectric layer from the substrate to expose a second portion of the substrate.

25. The method of claim 4, wherein first dopant is an opposite doping type than the second dopant.

26. The method of claim 4, wherein the concentration of the first dopant in the first region of the substrate is greater than about 1×

10¹⁶ atoms/cm².

27. The method of claim 4, wherein heating the substrate comprises heating the substrate to a temperature greater than about 800°

C.

28. The method of claim 4, further comprising depositing a layer on the surface of the substrate, wherein the layer comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide.

29. The method of claim 4, wherein the first dopant is arsenic (As) and the second dopant is phosporous (P) or boron (B).

5. A method of forming a solar cell device, comprising:

depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate;

patterning the dielectric layer to form a mask, thereby forming a pattern of exposed regions of the substrate;

disposing a first amount of a first dopant within the exposed regions of the substrate;

disposing a second amount of a second dopant within the exposed regions of the substrate and the dielectric layer after disposing the first dopant within the exposed regions, thereby forming a first doped region and a second doped region within the substrate, wherein the first dopant has a higher atomic mass than the second dopant; and

heating the substrate so that the first dopant diffuses a first depth within the substrate and the second dopant diffuses a second depth within the substrate, wherein the second depth of the second doped region is deeper than the first depth of the first doped region.