Quantum tunnelling

Quantum mechanics

Electrical resistivity and conductivity

Engineering

Chemical physics

Oxide

Metallurgy

Materials science

Chromatography

Layer (electronics)

Silicon

Semiconductor

Current (fluid)

Thermodynamics

Physics

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Voltage drop

Charge carrier

Condensed matter physics

Analytical Chemistry (journal)

Charge (physics)

Chemistry

Electron

Thermionic emission

Optoelectronics

Passivation

Electrical engineering

Engineering physics

Activation energy

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

The charge carrier transport mechanism of passivating contacts which feature an ultra-thin oxide layer is investigated by studying temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics. 4-Terminal dark J-V measurements at low temperatures reveal non-linear J-V characteristics of passivating contacts with a homogeneously grown silicon oxide, which result in an exponential increase in contact resistance towards lower temperature. The attempt to describe the R(T) characteristic solely by thermionic emission of charge carriers across an energy barrier leads to a significant underestimation of the resistance by several orders of magnitude. However, the data can be described properly with the metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) theory if tunneling of charge carriers through the silicon oxide layer is taken into account. Furthermore, temperature-dependent light J-V characteristics of solar cells featuring passivating contacts at the rear revealed a FF drop at T < 205 K, which is near the onset temperature of the exponential increase in contact resistivity.

Charge carrier transport mechanisms of passivating contacts studied by temperature-dependent J-V measurements