Applying Silver Tellurite to Optimize Ag/Si Contact Interface in Silicon Solar Cells

Nowadays, researches on developing new etching materials to optimize the Ag/Si contact interface in silicon solar cells（SSCs） are rare, which alleviates the further development of SSCs. In this study, silver tellurite(Ag;TeO;, monoclinic, P21/a（14）) is synthesized and developed as an excellent etching material in SSCs. The Ag;TeO;displays a low starting temperature of etching Si;N;of ～545 °C, which is ～160 °C lower than that of PbO. Besides, by applying Ag;TeO;, conductive silver nanoparticles with a length of about 300～500 nm and a thickness of ～50 nm form in the Ag/Si contact interface, which effectively reduces the Ag-Si contact resistance, and leads to a high solar cell efficiency of ～18.4%. This study opens a new window for further enhancing the solar cell efficiency in the future.