Determination of Temperature- and Carrier-Dependent Surface Recombination in Silicon

Knowledge regarding the temperature dependence of the surface recombination at the interface between silicon and various dielectrics is critically important as it 1) provides fundamental information regarding the interfaces and 2) improves the modeling of solar cell performance under actual operating conditions. Herein, the temperature- and carrier-dependent surface recombination at the silicon-oxide/silicon and aluminum-oxide/silicon interfaces in the temperature range of 25-90 degrees C using an advanced technique is investigated. This method enables to control the surface carrier population from heavy accumulation to heavy inversion via an external bias voltage, allowing for the decoupling of the bulk and surface contributions to the effective lifetime. Thus, it offers a simple and versatile manner to separate the chemical passivation from the charge-assisted population control at the silicon/dielectric interface. A model is established to obtain the temperature dependence of the capture cross sections, a critical capability for the optimization of the dielectric layers and the investigation of the fundamental properties of the passivation under field operating conditions. This study delves into temperature- and carrier-dependent surface recombination at silicon/dielectric interfaces within the 25-90 degrees C range, employing an advanced technique. This approach offers many unique capabilities, notably separating chemical passivation and charge-assisted population control and extracting fixed charges in the dielectric layers, the bulk lifetime, and the temperature-dependent capture cross sections of electrons and holes. image (c) 2024 WILEY-VCH GmbH