Titanium oxide nanomaterials as an electron-selective contact in silicon solar cells for photovoltaic devices

To obtain high conversion efficiency, various carrier-selective contact structures are being applied to the silicon solar cell, and many related studies are being conducted. We conducted research on TiO(2) to create an electron-selective contact structure that does not require a high-temperature process. Titanium metal was deposited using a thermal evaporator, and an additional oxidation process was conducted to form titanium oxide. The chemical compositions and phases of the titanium dioxide layers were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The passivation effects of each titanium oxide layer were measured using the quasi-steady-state photoconductance. In this study, the layer properties were analyzed when TiO(2) had a passivation effect on the silicon surface. The charge and interface defect densities of the layer were analyzed through CV measurements, and the passivation characteristics according to the TiO(2) phase change were investigated. As a result, by applying optimized TiO(2) layer thickness and annealing temperature conditions through the experiment for passivation to the cell-like structure, which is the structure before metal and electrode formation, an implied open-circuit voltage (iVoc) of 630 mV and an emitter saturation current density (J(0)) value of 60.4 fA/cm(2) were confirmed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s11671-023-03803-x.