Research On The Properties Of Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Prepared By Magnetron Sputtering

At present, silicon thin film solar cells have become the focus of the international PV research field, which is due to the advantage of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar cells, fewer supplies and lower cost, especially the introduction of low-cost substrate. The market competitiveness of silicon thin film solar cells in cost control is much stronger. In this paper, amorphous silicon thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering, then the parameters are optimized to improve the quality of the film, and finally, provide a theoretical basis and technology reference to the preparation of high-performance amorphous silicon thin film solar cells. Magnetron sputtering is a simple, low temperature, rapid membrane technology, which takes advantage of doping target sputtering deposition instead of toxic gases and flammable gas doping and film. It is a method of energy-saving, efficient, environmental protection. Compared with other techniques, the biggest advantage of magnetron sputtering is its fast deposition rate, and has an attractive film-forming efficiency and economic benefits, so it is expected to significantly reduce solar cell costs.In this paper, the intrinsic and boron-doped amorphous silicon thin films were deposited by the experimental method of magnetron sputtering on flexible PET and glass substrate. And then they were characterized by SEM, XRD, surface profilometer, UV-spectrophotometer and electrochemical workstation. Furthermore, with analyzing the influence of different substrate and process parameters (sputtering power, working pressure) on the film structure and performance. The results are shown as following:(1) Different substrates had no significant effect on the thin films’surface morphology and crystalline state, whereas under the conditions of the same process parameters, the deposition efficiency is very significant, deposition rate of the flexible PET substrate was significantly higher than the glass substrate’s.(2) Boron’s doping had no significant effect on surface morphology and crystalline state of the film, but the conductive properties of the film to enhanced the conductivity of the thin films;(3)Under the conditions of the same substrate, different sputtering power had no significant impact on the surface morphology and crystalline state of the film. However, with the increase of sputtering power, deposition rate increased remarkably, the film thickness increased, the light transmission rate decreased in the visible range, While the calculation shows that, both the absorption coefficient and extinction coefficient of thin films reduced, the trend of the optical band gap width was consistent with the redshift phenomenon of absorption edge.(4) Under the conditions of the same substrate, different work pressure had no significant impact on the surface morphology and crystalline state of the film. However, with the increase of sputtering power, deposition rate increased remarkably, the film thickness increased, and the light transmission rate decreased in the visible range, While the calculation shows that, both the absorption coefficient and extinction coefficient of thin films reduced, the trend of the optical band gap width was consistent with the blueshift phenomenon of absorption edge.