Microcrystalline silicon films and solar cells deposited at high rate by matrix distributed electron cyclotron resonance (MDECR) plasma

The latest results obtained in a new promising Matrix Distributed Electron Cyclotron Resonance (MDECR) reactor for the deposition of microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films and cells are reported in this article. The reactor is presented with a focus on the importance and the difficulties of temperature measurements. The unique properties of this high density plasma allowed us to demonstrate high deposition rates of 28 Å/s. The chemical composition of the MDECR material has been compared to a standard material and in particular, the effect of the oxygen level will be discussed. The installation of a load-lock allowed a reduction of the oxygen contamination by a factor of 10. Lower microwave powers helped to improve the electrical properties of the material. So far, the cell performance unfortunately seems decoupled from these successive optimizations of the film quality, and stayed limited.