High Temperature Annealing Amorphous Hydrogenated SiC Films for the Application as Window Layers in Si-Based Solar Cell

Abstract

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H) films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and subsequently annealed in N2 atmosphere at 1100 °C. The effects of high temperature annealing on the film’s optical and structural properties were systematically analyzed. It was noted that after high temperature annealing, amount of Si-C bonds increased significantly and SiC nanocrystalline was formed on the surface of the film, which resulted in an increasing refractive index in wavelength range of visible light, a decreasing absorbance index (wavelength<433.5 nm) and an increasing optical bandgap of the film. The changes of the optical properties illustrated that the performance of Si-based solar cell with a-Si1-xCx:H window layer could be improved by high temperature annealing.