Low energy H+ effects on the photovoltaic and optical properties of polycrystalline silicon solar cells

Low energy hydrogen ion was used to passivate the electrically active defects existing in grains and grain boundaries of polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Short-circuit current of H⁺ implanted cells remarkably increased before and after preparing TiO₂AR (antireflective) coating. The measurements (at λ=6328 Å) of the optical properties of H⁺ implanted silicon samples show that: the value of absorption coefficient reached the level of a-Si; refractive indexn and ref?ectivityR significantly decreased; the optical band gap increased from 1.1 eV to 1.3 eV. The results indicate that Si-H bonds have been formed after H⁺ implantation. The calculation shows that the optical thickness cycle of TiO₂ AR coating will reduce correspondingly in order to obtain the optimum optical match between AR coating and implanted silicon since refractive index decreases after H⁺ implantation.