@article{be51be07724546779056cffa41711827,
title = "Improving the silicon surface passivation by aluminum oxide grown using a non-pyrophoric aluminum precursor",
abstract = "In this work, an alternative nonpyrophoric Al-precursor [dimethylaluminum isopropoxide (DMAI)] is used to deposit Al2O3 on p-type c-Si by plasma-enhanced and thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD). Al2O3 films grown by thermal ALD provide a relatively modest level of crystalline silicon surface passivation compared to their plasma-assisted ALD grown counterparts. This difference is attributed to a significant difference in the interfacial SiOx film as identified by Brewster's angle Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The energy barrier for DMAI to react with Si-H groups on the surface is significantly lower compared to TMA, which impedes the formation of the interfacial SiOx layer. As thermal ALD is the strongly preferred method in the photovoltaic industry, there is a strong incentive to improve the performance of the thermal ALD process to allow for the application of this intrinsically safer Al2O3 deposition process. A chemically grown thin oxide is shown to significantly improve the level of surface passivation provided by the thermal ALD Al2O3 film resulting in an increase in implied open circuit voltage from 653 to 723 mV. This surface pretreatment thus solves a major barrier for the application of this intrinsically safer process in the photovoltaic industry.",
keywords = "aluminum oxide, anneal temperature, atomic layer deposition, interface modification, surface passivation",
author = "Lee, {Chang Yeh} and Shaozhou Wang and Xin Cui and Tian Zhang and Rong Deng and Khoo, {Kean T.} and Bram Hoex",
note = "Funding Information: This work was performed in part at the UNSW node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and micro-fabrication facilities for Australia's researchers. This publication was made possible by NPRP grant # NPRP9-021-009 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) and by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP). The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein. Chang-Yeh Lee would like to thank the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) for financial assistance. Funding Information: This work was performed in part at the UNSW node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility, a company established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy to provide nano and micro-fabrication facilities for Australia{\textquoteright}s researchers. This publication was made possiblebyNPRPgrant#NPRP9-021-009fromtheQatarNationalResearch Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) and by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP). The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the AustralianGovernmentdoesnotacceptresponsibilityforanyinformationor advice contained herein. Chang-Yeh Lee would like to thank the Ministry of Education (Taiwan) for financial assistance. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim",
year = "2018",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1002/pssr.201800156",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
journal = "Physica Status Solidi: Rapid Research Letters",
issn = "1862-6254",
publisher = "Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA",
number = "7",
}
