Paper by Pia Vasquez 2026
The paper "Assessment on work function characterization of thin nanocrystalline silicon layers for silicon heterojunction integration" has been published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
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You will find here the link to the paper by Pia Vasquez
"The reported record efficiencies of silicon heterojunction solar cells using hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) as carrier-collector layers have increased interest in this material due to low activation energy. Band-bending in silicon creates a difference in work function (ϕ) between the bulk and the surface of the film. However, ϕ values of nc-Si:H have only been reported as estimates, with few direct measurements performed. Given the lack of reported data on the ϕ of nc-Si:H films, we compared various measurement techniques to establish reference values and evaluate the reliability of each method. Using Kelvin probe (KP), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron beam repulsion (EBR), we measured the ϕ of intrinsic, n-type and p-type nc-Si:H layers. We discuss the effect of surface treatments based on ozone and hydrofluoric acid on the ϕ. EBR revealed that the ϕ of p-type films between 10 and 45 nm thick decreases with increasing thickness, dropping from 5.4 to 4.5 eV. This trend was not evident in KP measurements of thinner films. A similar plateau was observed for films thicker than 45 nm by both techniques. We also compared ϕ values measured using these techniques with those estimated from the activation energy obtained via temperature-dependent conductivity measurements."
"The reported record efficiencies of silicon heterojunction solar cells using hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) as carrier-collector layers have increased interest in this material due to low activation energy. Band-bending in silicon creates a difference in work function (ϕ) between the bulk and the surface of the film. However, ϕ values of nc-Si:H have only been reported as estimates, with few direct measurements performed. Given the lack of reported data on the ϕ of nc-Si:H films, we compared various measurement techniques to establish reference values and evaluate the reliability of each method. Using Kelvin probe (KP), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron beam repulsion (EBR), we measured the ϕ of intrinsic, n-type and p-type nc-Si:H layers. We discuss the effect of surface treatments based on ozone and hydrofluoric acid on the ϕ. EBR revealed that the ϕ of p-type films between 10 and 45 nm thick decreases with increasing thickness, dropping from 5.4 to 4.5 eV. This trend was not evident in KP measurements of thinner films. A similar plateau was observed for films thicker than 45 nm by both techniques. We also compared ϕ values measured using these techniques with those estimated from the activation energy obtained via temperature-dependent conductivity measurements."