Improved quality of flash-lamp-crystallized polycrystalline silicon films by using low defect density Cat-CVD a-Si films

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the influence of the quality of precursor amorphous silicon (a-Si) films on the quality of flash-lamp-crystallized (FLC) polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) films by tuning the conditions of a-Si deposition by catalytic chemical vapor deposition. Electron spin resonance measurement reveals that the defect density of FLC poly-Si films is affected by the defect density of a-Si films, and FLC poly-Si films with lower defect density can be formed by using precursor a-Si films with lower defect density. The same tendency is also confirmed through μ-PCD measurement. Improvement in the characteristics of thin-film crystalline Si (c-Si) solar cells can be expected by using high-quality FLC poly-Si films formed from a-Si films with low defect density.