Assessment and parameterisation of Coulomb-enhanced Auger recombination coefficients in lowly injected crystalline silicon

authored by: Pietro P. Altermatt, Jan Schmidt, Gernot Heiser, Armin G. Aberle
Abstract: In traditional band-to-band Auger recombination theory, the low-injection carrier lifetime is an inverse quadratic function of the doping density. However, for doping densities below about 3 × 10¹⁸cm^-3, the low-injection Auger lifetimes measured in the past on silicon were significantly smaller than predicted by this theory. Recently, a new theory has been developed [A. Hangleiter and R. Häcker Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 215 (1990)] that attributes these deviations to Coulombic interactions between mobile charge carriers. This theory has been supported experimentally to a high degree of accuracy in n-type silicon; however, no satisfactory support for it has been found in p-type silicon for doping densities below 3×10¹⁷ cm^-3. In this work, we investigate the most recent lifetime measurements of crystalline silicon and support experimentally the Coulomb-enhanced Auger theory in p-type silicon in the doping range down to 1×10¹⁶ cm^-3. Based on the experimental data, we present an empirical parameterisation of the low-injection Auger lifetime. This parameterisation is valid in n- and p-type silicon with arbitrary doping concentrations and for temperatures between 70 and 400 K. We implement this parameterisation into a numerical device simulator to demonstrate how the new Auger limit influences the open-circuit voltage capability of silicon solar cells. Further, we briefly discuss why the Auger recombination rates are less enhanced under high-injection conditions than under low-injection conditions.
External Organisation(s): University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of applied physics
Volume: 82
Pages: 4938-4944
No. of pages: 7
ISSN: 0021-8979
Publication date: 15.11.1997
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Physics and Astronomy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1063/1.366360 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{97ced972c4c84b21bd4f42fb71e34982,
title = "Assessment and parameterisation of Coulomb-enhanced Auger recombination coefficients in lowly injected crystalline silicon",
abstract = "In traditional band-to-band Auger recombination theory, the low-injection carrier lifetime is an inverse quadratic function of the doping density. However, for doping densities below about 3 × 1018cm-3, the low-injection Auger lifetimes measured in the past on silicon were significantly smaller than predicted by this theory. Recently, a new theory has been developed [A. Hangleiter and R. H{\"a}cker Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 215 (1990)] that attributes these deviations to Coulombic interactions between mobile charge carriers. This theory has been supported experimentally to a high degree of accuracy in n-type silicon; however, no satisfactory support for it has been found in p-type silicon for doping densities below 3×1017 cm-3. In this work, we investigate the most recent lifetime measurements of crystalline silicon and support experimentally the Coulomb-enhanced Auger theory in p-type silicon in the doping range down to 1×1016 cm-3. Based on the experimental data, we present an empirical parameterisation of the low-injection Auger lifetime. This parameterisation is valid in n- and p-type silicon with arbitrary doping concentrations and for temperatures between 70 and 400 K. We implement this parameterisation into a numerical device simulator to demonstrate how the new Auger limit influences the open-circuit voltage capability of silicon solar cells. Further, we briefly discuss why the Auger recombination rates are less enhanced under high-injection conditions than under low-injection conditions.",
author = "Altermatt, {Pietro P.} and Jan Schmidt and Gernot Heiser and Aberle, {Armin G.}",
year = "1997",
month = nov,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1063/1.366360",
language = "English",
volume = "82",
pages = "4938--4944",
journal = "Journal of applied physics",
issn = "0021-8979",
publisher = "American Institute of Physics",
number = "10",
}