Electrical properties of silicon carbide/silicon rich carbide multilayers for photovoltaic applications

Silicon carbide/silicon rich carbide multilayers, aimed at the formation of silicon nanodots for photovoltaic applications, have been studied. The electrical properties have been investigated at the nano-scale by conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (c-AFM) and at macro-scale by temperature dependent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy materials and solar cells 2015-04, Vol.135, p.29-34
Main Authors: Perani, M., Cavalcoli, D., Canino, M., Allegrezza, M., Bellettato, M., Summonte, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFM
Carbides
Conductivity
Electrical properties
Multilayers
Nanostructure
Photovoltaic cells
Reflection and Transmission
Si nanodots
Silicon
Silicon carbide
Solar cells
Tandem cells
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Summary:Silicon carbide/silicon rich carbide multilayers, aimed at the formation of silicon nanodots for photovoltaic applications, have been studied. The electrical properties have been investigated at the nano-scale by conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (c-AFM) and at macro-scale by temperature dependent conductivity measurements. The mixture is composed of highly conductive Si nanoclusters and moderately conductive SiC nanoclusters in a disordered matrix. The conduction mechanism takes place via band states induced by the disorder at the interface between nanodot clusters. Structural properties have been extracted by optical spectroscopy analyses. The results contribute to the understanding of the microscopical electronic mechanisms of the composite material, which is a candidate for third generation photovoltaics. •SiC/SRC multilayers deposited by PECVD and annealed for Si nano-crystals formation.•AFM, R&T and lateral conductivity measurements were used for characterization.•Different composition and phases (amorphous/crystalline) coexist in the samples.•Regions with different conductivities at the nano-scale are observed.•Conduction mechanism likely related to extended-states transport.
ISSN:0927-0248
1879-3398
DOI:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.09.022