Abstract
Hydrogenated films of silicon nitride SiNx:H are largely used as antireflective coating as well as passivation layer for industrial crystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar cells. In this work, we present a low cost plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of this thin layer by using SiH4 and N-2 as a reactive gases. A study was carried out on the variation effect of the ratio silane (SiH4) to nitrogen (N-2) and time deposition on chemical composition, morphologies, reflectivity and carrier lifetime. The thickness was varied, in order to obtain a homogeneous antireflective layer. The Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) shows the existence of Si-N and Si H bonds. The morphologies of the sample were studied by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The resulting surface of the SiNx:H shows low-reflectivity less than 5% in wavelength range 400-1200 nm. As a result, an improvement in minority carrier lifetime has been achieved to about 15 mu s. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.