{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T11:06:34Z","timestamp":1753873594582,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"AIP Publishing","issue":"20","funder":[{"name":"Dursol project"},{"name":"FP7 project","award":["283501"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["283501"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005380","name":"Swiss Federal Office of Energy","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["SI\/500750-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SI\/500750-01"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005380","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["pubs.aip.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The boron-tailing effect in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells describes the reduced charge collection specifically in the blue part of the spectrum for absorber layers deposited above a critical temperature. This effect limits the device performance of state-of-the art solar cells: For enhanced current density (reduced bandgap), the deposition temperature should be as high as possible, but boron tailing gets detrimental above 200\u2009\u00b0C. To investigate this limitation and to show potential paths to overcome it, we deposited high-efficiency a-Si:H solar cells, varying the deposition temperatures of the p-type and the intrinsic absorber (i) layers between 150 and 250\u2009\u00b0C. Using secondary ion mass spectroscopy, we study dedicated stacks of i-p-i layers deposited at different temperatures. This allows us to track boron diffusion at the p-i and i-p interfaces as they occur in the p-i-n and n-i-p configurations of a-Si:H solar cells for different deposition conditions. Finally, we prove step-by-step that the common explanation for boron tailing\u2014boron diffusion from the p layer into the i layer leading to enhanced recombination\u2014is not generally true and propose an alternative explanation for the experimentally observed drop in the external quantum efficiency at short wavelengths.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4935348","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,17]],"date-time":"2015-11-17T18:00:58Z","timestamp":1447783258000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1063\/aip-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The boron-tailing myth in hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells"],"prefix":"10.1063","volume":"107","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8244-5235","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M.","family":"Stuckelberger","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]},{"given":"B.-S.","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Evans Analytical Group 2 SIMS Services, , 810 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, California 94086, USA"}]},{"given":"G.","family":"Bugnon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]},{"given":"M.","family":"Despeisse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]},{"given":"J.-W.","family":"Sch\u00fcttauf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]},{"given":"F.-J.","family":"Haug","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]},{"given":"C.","family":"Ballif","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Photovoltaics and Thin-Film Electronics Laboratory 1 Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Microengineering (IMT), , Rue de la Maladi\u00e8re 71, CH-2000 Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland"}]}],"member":"317","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,17]]},"reference":[{"journal-title":"Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl.","article-title":"Comparison of amorphous silicon absorber materials: Kinetics of light-induced degradation","key":"2023061723080797600_c1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/pip.2559"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"053901","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4907001","article-title":"High-efficiency amorphous silicon solar cells: Impact of deposition rate on metastability","volume":"106","year":"2015","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c3","unstructured":"See http:\/\/www.solar.tel.com for \u201cTEL solar\u2014New record-breaking PV module efficiency has been achieved, press release of July 9, 2014\u201d (last accessed July 28, 2014)."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solmat.2013.04.016","article-title":"Remarkable progress in thin-film silicon solar cells using high-efficiency triple-junction technology","volume":"119","year":"2013","journal-title":"Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"757","DOI":"10.1109\/JPHOTOV.2014.2307162","article-title":"Thin-film silicon triple-junction solar cells on highly transparent front electrodes with stabilized efficiencies up to 12.8%","volume":"4","year":"2014","journal-title":"IEEE J. Photovoltaics"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213902","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4921794","article-title":"Triple-junction thin-film silicon solar cell fabricated on periodically textured substrate with a stabilized efficiency of 13.6%","volume":"106","year":"2015","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"063902","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4892890","article-title":"Quadruple-junction thin-film silicon-based solar cells with high open-circuit voltage","volume":"105","year":"2014","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solmat.2014.11.006","article-title":"Amorphous silicon-germanium for triple and quadruple junction thin-film silicon based solar cells","volume":"133","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"154509","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4824813","article-title":"Comparison of amorphous silicon absorber materials: Light-induced degradation and solar cell efficiency","volume":"114","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c10","unstructured":"M.\u2008Stuckelberger, \u201cHydrogenated amorphous silicon: Impact of process conditions on material properties and solar cell efficiency,\u201d Ph.D. thesis (Ecole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne, Switzerland, 2014)."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1595153","article-title":"Effect of hydrogen dilution on the open-circuit voltage of hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells","volume":"83","year":"2003","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2293","DOI":"10.4229\/23rdEUPVSEC2008-3AV.2.23","article-title":"High-efficiency amorphous silicon devices on LPCVD-ZnO TCO prepared in industrial KaiTM-M R&D reactor","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 24th EU PVSEC","year":"2009"},{"first-page":"1271","article-title":"Improved blue response and efficiency of A-Si:H solar cells deposited from disilane using a dual-chamber plasma system","year":"1985","key":"2023061723080797600_c13"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1220","DOI":"10.1063\/1.339985","article-title":"A method for improved short-wavelength response in hydrogenated amorphous silicon-based solar cells","volume":"63","year":"1988","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3155","DOI":"10.1063\/1.1514396","article-title":"Formation of interface defects by enhanced impurity diffusion in microcrystallinde silicon solar cells","volume":"81","year":"2002","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"first-page":"1831","article-title":"Impurity diffusion effect on p\/i interface properties of p-i-n junction microcrystalline silicon solar cells","year":"2003","key":"2023061723080797600_c16"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1201\/b16327","volume-title":"Thin-Film Silicon Solar Cells","author":"Shah","year":"2010"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2793","DOI":"10.4229\/25thEUPVSEC2010-3CO.13.4","article-title":"Low-conductivity doped layers for improved performance of thin film silicon solar cells on highly textured substrates","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 25th EU PVSEC","year":"2010"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.solmat.2013.08.034","article-title":"Silicon oxide buffer layer at the p-i interface in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells","volume":"120","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"001569","DOI":"10.1109\/PVSC.2010.5617122","article-title":"Internal electric field and fill factor of amorphous silicon solar cells","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 35th IEEE PVSC","year":"2010"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2187","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jnoncrysol.2011.11.013","article-title":"Charge collection in amorphous silicon solar cells: cell analysis and simulation of high-efficiency pin devices","volume":"358","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Non-Cryst. Solids"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"094503","DOI":"10.1063\/1.4894457","article-title":"Light-induced Voc increase and decrease in high-efficiency amorphous silicon solar cells","volume":"116","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1368","DOI":"10.1109\/JPHOTOV.2014.2357495","article-title":"High-stable-efficiency tandem thin-film silicon solar cell with low-refractive-index silicon-oxide interlayer","volume":"4","year":"2014","journal-title":"IEEE J. Photovoltaics"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3052","DOI":"10.4229\/25thEUPVSEC2010-3AV.1.60","article-title":"Accurate SIMS quantification of dopants and impurities in thin film amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon solar cells","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 25th EU PVSEC","year":"2010"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c26","first-page":"485","article-title":"Measurement of surface metal contamination on silicon","volume-title":"Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry SIMS X","author":"Benninghoven","year":"1997"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"525","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsf.2003.11.036","article-title":"High-efficiency p-i-n a-Si:H solar cells with low boron cross-contamination prepared in a large-area single-chamber PECVD reactor","volume":"451\u2013452","year":"2004","journal-title":"Thin Solid Films"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3665","DOI":"10.1002\/adfm.201200299","article-title":"A new view of microcrystalline silicon: The role of plasma processing in achieving a dense and stable absorber material for photovoltaic applications","volume":"22","year":"2012","journal-title":"Adv. Funct. Mater."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c29","unstructured":"M.\u2008Python, \u201cMicrocrystalline silicon solar cells: Growth and defects,\u201d Ph.D. thesis (Universit\u00e9 de Neuch\u00e2tel, IMT, 2009)."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1515\/green-2011-0018","article-title":"High-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells: A review","volume":"2","year":"2012","journal-title":"Green"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103707","DOI":"10.1063\/1.3129578","article-title":"Nature of doped a-Si:H\/c-Si interface recombination","volume":"105","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2245","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jnoncrysol.2011.12.063","article-title":"Improving the performance of amorphous and crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells by monitoring surface passivation","volume":"358","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Non-Crystal. Solids"},{"key":"2023061723080797600_c33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"471","DOI":"10.1109\/WCPEC.1994.520000","article-title":"Improvement in stabilized efficiency of a-Si:H solar cells through optimized p\/i interface layers","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 1st WCPEC","year":"1994"}],"container-title":["Applied Physics Letters"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/aip\/apl\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1063\/1.4935348\/14470638\/201112_1_online.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/aip\/apl\/article-pdf\/doi\/10.1063\/1.4935348\/14470638\/201112_1_online.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,17]],"date-time":"2023-06-17T23:08:26Z","timestamp":1687043306000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubs.aip.org\/apl\/article\/107\/20\/201112\/30271\/The-boron-tailing-myth-in-hydrogenated-amorphous"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,16]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"20","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1063\/1.4935348","relation":{},"ISSN":["0003-6951","1077-3118"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0003-6951"},{"type":"electronic","value":"1077-3118"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,16]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,11,16]]},"article-number":"201112"}}