Full Text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Due to the lower cost compared to screen-printed silver contacts, the Ni/Cu/Ag contacts formed by plating have been continuously studied as a potential metallization technology for solar cells. To address the adhesion issue of backside grid lines in electroplated n-Tunnel Oxide Passivating Contacts (n-TOPCon) solar cells and reduce ohmic contact, we propose a novel approach of adding a Ni/Si alloy seed layer between the Ni and Si layers. The metal nickel layer is deposited on the backside of the solar cells using electron beam evaporation, and excess nickel is removed by H2SO4:H2O2 etchant under annealing conditions of 300–425 °C to form a seed layer. The adhesion strength increased by more than 0.5 N mm−1 and the contact resistance dropped by 0.5 mΩ cm2 in comparison to the traditional direct plating Ni/Cu/Ag method. This is because the resulting Ni/Si alloy has outstanding electrical conductivity, and the produced Ni/Si alloy has higher adhesion over direct contact between the nickel–silicon interface, as well as enhanced surface roughness. The results showed that at an annealing temperature of 375 °C, the main compound formed was NiSi, with a contact resistance of 1 mΩ cm−2 and a maximum gate line adhesion of 2.7 N mm−1. This method proposes a new technical solution for cost reduction and efficiency improvement of n-TOPCon solar cells.

Details

Title
Enhancing Adhesion and Reducing Ohmic Contact through Nickel–Silicon Alloy Seed Layer in Electroplating Ni/Cu/Ag
Author
Wang, Zhao 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Liu, Haixia 2 ; Chen, Daming 3 ; Wang, Zigang 3 ; Wu, Kuiyi 3 ; Cheng, Guanggui 2 ; Ding, Yu 2 ; Zhang, Zhuohan 3 ; Chen, Yifeng 3 ; Gao, Jifan 3 ; Ding, Jianning 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China; [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (H.L.); [email protected] (G.C.); [email protected] (Y.D.); State Key Lab of Photovoltaic Science and Technology, Trina Solar Co., Ltd., Changzhou 213031, China; [email protected] (D.C.); [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (K.W.); [email protected] (Y.C.); [email protected] (J.G.) 
 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China; [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (H.L.); [email protected] (G.C.); [email protected] (Y.D.) 
 State Key Lab of Photovoltaic Science and Technology, Trina Solar Co., Ltd., Changzhou 213031, China; [email protected] (D.C.); [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (K.W.); [email protected] (Y.C.); [email protected] (J.G.) 
 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China; [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (H.L.); [email protected] (G.C.); [email protected] (Y.D.); Institute of Technology for Carbon Neutralization, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China 
First page
2610
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19961944
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3067501790
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.