Bessel-Beam Direct Write of the Etch Mask in a Nano-Film of Alumina for High-Efficiency Si Solar Cells

authored by: Tomas Katkus, Soon Hock Ng, Haoran Mu, Nguyen Hoai An Le, Dominyka Stonytė, Zahra Khajehsaeidimahabadi, Gediminas Seniutinas, Justas Baltrukonis, Orestas Ulčinas, Mindaugas Mikutis, Vytautas Sabonis, Yoshiaki Nishijima, Michael Rienäcker, Udo Römer, Jan Krügener, Robby Peibst, Sajeev John, Saulius Juodkazis
Abstract: Large surface area applications such as high efficiency >26% solar cells require surface patterning with 1–10 μm periodic patterns at high fidelity over (Formula presented.) areas (before up scaling to (Formula presented.)) to perform at, or exceed, the Lambertian (ray optics) limit of light trapping. Herein, a pathway is shown to high-resolution sub-1 μm etch mask patterning by ablation using direct femtosecond laser writing performed at room conditions (without the need for a vacuum-based lithography approach). A Bessel beam is used to alleviate the required high surface tracking tolerance for ablation of 0.3–0.8 μm diameter holes in 40 nm alumina (Formula presented.) –mask at high writing speed, 7.5 cm s⁻¹; a patterning rate 1 cm² per 20 min. Plasma etching protocol was optimized for a zero-mesa formation of photonic-crystal-trapping structures and smooth surfaces at the nanoscale level. The maximum of minority carrier recombination time of 2.9 ms was achieved after the standard wafer passivation etch; resistivity of the wafer was 3.5 Ω cm. Scaling up in area and throughput of the demonstrated approach is outlined.
Organisation(s): Institute of Electronic Materials and Devices
External Organisation(s): Swinburne University of Technology
Vilnius University
Altechna R&D
Yokohama National University
Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)
University of Toronto
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Type: Article
Journal: Advanced engineering materials
Volume: 26
ISSN: 1438-1656
Publication date: 07.11.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Materials Science, Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2403.14237 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202400711 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{a849cd34a3ec410588dc093716538f0f,
title = "Bessel-Beam Direct Write of the Etch Mask in a Nano-Film of Alumina for High-Efficiency Si Solar Cells",
abstract = "Large surface area applications such as high efficiency >26% solar cells require surface patterning with 1–10 μm periodic patterns at high fidelity over (Formula presented.) areas (before up scaling to (Formula presented.)) to perform at, or exceed, the Lambertian (ray optics) limit of light trapping. Herein, a pathway is shown to high-resolution sub-1 μm etch mask patterning by ablation using direct femtosecond laser writing performed at room conditions (without the need for a vacuum-based lithography approach). A Bessel beam is used to alleviate the required high surface tracking tolerance for ablation of 0.3–0.8 μm diameter holes in 40 nm alumina (Formula presented.) –mask at high writing speed, 7.5 cm s−1; a patterning rate 1 cm2 per 20 min. Plasma etching protocol was optimized for a zero-mesa formation of photonic-crystal-trapping structures and smooth surfaces at the nanoscale level. The maximum of minority carrier recombination time of 2.9 ms was achieved after the standard wafer passivation etch; resistivity of the wafer was 3.5 Ω cm. Scaling up in area and throughput of the demonstrated approach is outlined.",
keywords = "Bessel beams, high-efficiency solar-to-electrical energy conversions, Lambertian limits, Si solar cells",
author = "Tomas Katkus and Ng, {Soon Hock} and Haoran Mu and Le, {Nguyen Hoai An} and Dominyka Stonytė and Zahra Khajehsaeidimahabadi and Gediminas Seniutinas and Justas Baltrukonis and Orestas Ul{\v c}inas and Mindaugas Mikutis and Vytautas Sabonis and Yoshiaki Nishijima and Michael Rien{\"a}cker and Udo R{\"o}mer and Jan Kr{\"u}gener and Robby Peibst and Sajeev John and Saulius Juodkazis",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Engineering Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.",
year = "2024",
month = nov,
day = "7",
doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2403.14237",
language = "English",
volume = "26",
journal = "Advanced engineering materials",
issn = "1438-1656",
publisher = "Wiley-VCH Verlag",
number = "21",
}