Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.5
3.2
Journals
Energies
Special Issues
Advanced Materials and Technologies for Solar Cells and Semiconductor Devices
energies-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Advanced Materials and Technologies for Solar Cells and Semiconductor Devices

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 1892

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Pham Duy Phong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
Interests: thin film solar cells; silicon-based solar cells; semiconductor devices; nano-scale materials; photovoltaic applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editor is inviting contributions for a Special Issue on the topic area of “Advanced Materials and Technologies for Solar Cells and Semiconductor Devices”. For decades, researchers have reported intensively on advances and achievements in photovoltaic and semiconductor devices. Efforts have been concentrated to date on developing low-cost, high-efficiency devices for market competitiveness. The goals necessitate that scientists continually discover advanced materials and technologies. This Special Issue addresses the latest advances and/or innovations in semiconductor materials and technologies such as solar cells, transistors, diodes, sensors, etc. Original research or review papers based on both modeling and experimental studies are encouraged.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Silicon-based solar cells;
  • Multijunction photovoltaic devices;
  • Thin film transistors;
  • Thin film solar cells;
  • Hybrid solar cells;
  • Technologies: passivating contact, carrier selective contact, interdigitated back contact, and so on;
  • Antireflection coatings and transparent conducting oxides.

Prof. Dr. Pham Duy Phong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • photovoltaic devices
  • solar cells
  • thin film photovoltaic
  • transparent conductive oxides
  • anti-reflection coatings
  • high-κ materials
  • metal oxide gate insulators
  • thin film transistors
  • silicon heterojunction
  • multijunction photovoltaics
  • hybrid solar cells
  • passivating contacts

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 3191 KiB  
Article
Three-Step Process for Efficient Solar Cells with Boron-Doped Passivated Contacts
by Saman Sharbaf Kalaghichi, Jan Hoß, Jonathan Linke, Stefan Lange and Jürgen H. Werner
Energies 2024, 17(6), 1319; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17061319 - 9 Mar 2024
Viewed by 640
Abstract
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells with passivation stacks consisting of a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) layer and a thin interfacial silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer show high conversion efficiencies. Since the poly-Si layer in this structure acts as a carrier transport layer, high [...] Read more.
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells with passivation stacks consisting of a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) layer and a thin interfacial silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer show high conversion efficiencies. Since the poly-Si layer in this structure acts as a carrier transport layer, high doping of the poly-Si layer is crucial for high conductivity and the efficient transport of charge carriers from the bulk to a metal contact. In this respect, conventional furnace-based high-temperature doping methods are limited by the solid solubility of the dopants in silicon. This limitation particularly affects p-type doping using boron. Previously, we showed that laser activation overcomes this limitation by melting the poly-Si layer, resulting in an active concentration beyond the solubility limit after crystallization. High electrically active boron concentrations ensure low contact resistivity at the (contact) metal/semiconductor interface and allow for the maskless patterning of the poly-Si layer by providing an etch-stop layer in an alkaline solution. However, the high doping concentration degrades during long high-temperature annealing steps. Here, we performed a test of the stability of such a high doping concentration under thermal stress. The active boron concentration shows only a minor reduction during SiNx:H deposition at a moderate temperature and a fast-firing step at a high temperature and with a short exposure time. However, for an annealing time tanneal = 30 min and an annealing temperature 600 °C ≤ Tanneal≤ 1000 °C, the high conductivity is significantly reduced, whereas a high passivation quality requires annealing in this range. We resolve this dilemma by introducing a second, healing laser reactivation step, which re-establishes the original high conductivity of the boron-doped poly-Si and does not degrade the passivation. After a thermal annealing temperature Tanneal = 985 °C, the reactivated layers show high sheet conductance (Gsh) with Gsh = 24 mS sq and high passivation quality, with the implied open-circuit voltage (iVOC) reaching iVOC = 715 mV. Therefore, our novel three-step process consisting of laser activation, thermal annealing, and laser reactivation/healing is suitable for fabricating highly efficient solar cells with p++-poly-Si/SiO2 contact passivation layers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies for Solar Cells and Semiconductor Devices)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2537 KiB  
Article
Unveiling the Future of Insulator Coatings: Unmatched Corrosion Resistance and Self-Healing Properties of PFPE Lubricating Oil-Infused Hydrophobized CeO2 Surfaces
by Simpy Sanyal, Xinyi Fan, Suresh Kumar Dhungel, Duy Phong Pham and Junsin Yi
Energies 2023, 16(14), 5271; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16145271 - 10 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 869
Abstract
Corrosion accounts for 52% of the recorded breakdown of insulators utilized in transmission lines, which may interfere with the reliability of power utilities. The CeO2 conversion coating, CeO2-ethylene propylene diene monomer, EPDM composite coating, and Perfluoropolyether PFPE lubricating oil-infused hydrophobized [...] Read more.
Corrosion accounts for 52% of the recorded breakdown of insulators utilized in transmission lines, which may interfere with the reliability of power utilities. The CeO2 conversion coating, CeO2-ethylene propylene diene monomer, EPDM composite coating, and Perfluoropolyether PFPE lubricating oil-infused hydrophobized CeO2 composite surfaces were developed on the insulator surface to address these challenges. The properties of these three kinds of structures are compared based on the persistence of coating over insulators installed in a highly contaminated environment. PFPE lubricating oil-infused hydrophobized CeO2 composite surfaces show excellent performance over other approaches. A lubricating oil-infused hydrophobized CeO2 composite of thickness 35.4 µm exhibits contact angles 60°, 85°, and 160°, and contact angle hysteresis of 12°, 10°, and 4°, respectively, after accelerated thermal aging. The proposed approach presents self-healing and corrosion resistance (corrosion rate 0.3 × 10−3 mm/Y, Icorr 1.2 × 10−7), post-accelerated thermal aging. The research outcome is expected to pave the way for incredibly robust insulator coatings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies for Solar Cells and Semiconductor Devices)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop