PROFILE CONTROLLED LASER DOPING FOR N-TYPE SILICON SOLAR CELLS

Koyo Horiuchi, Yoshiyuki Nishihara, Akiyoshi Ogane, Yu Takahashi, Athapol Kitiyanan,

Yukiharu Uraoka and Takashi Fuyuki
Graduate School of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST)
8916-5, Takayama, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192 Japan
E-mail: h-koyo@ms.naist.jp, Tel/Fax: +81-743-72-6072/6079

ABSTRACT: Laser doping (LD) technique is now noticed as an alternative instead of the conventional heat diffusion
method to form junctions in silicon solar cells. And the recent world’s researches on solar cells have tended to use the
phosphorus doped n-type substrate as the base because p-type Cz substrate has the problem that Boron-Oxygen complex
acts as the carrier recombination center. In this study, the LD technique was applied for the emitter or back surface field
(BSF) formation of n-type silicon solar cells as well as p-type substrate. Doping profiles were controlled by changing the
output power of the Nd3+:YAG laser with 355 nm wavelength. Regardless of the substrate type, the doped layer depth
profile was completely controlled in the range of 0.05 to 0.2 µm by changing the laser output power from 0.3 W to 0.5
W. This change of doping profile also affected the photovoltaic properties of fabricated cells with laser doped emitter.
However, the solar cells prepared by the LD technique at the optimized condition (laser output power; 0.5 W) gave the
almost the same level of Voc comparing to those of prepared by the conventional heat diffusion. Moreover, the
photovoltaic properties were improved by BSF formation using LD techniques, and the relationship between laser output
power and open circuit voltage was confirmed.
Keywords: Laser Processing, Doping, Back-Surface-Field

1 INTRODUCTION Moreover, the selective area doping, one of the

In the fabrication of solar cells, diffusion process is
required to form junctions. Recently, instead of the
conventional impurity diffusion method at high
temperatures, laser doping (LD) technique has been
noticed as a promising alternative because of its
advantages [1, 2]. It can be performed at the room
temperature, which is leading to the reduction of thermal
stress in the substrate. This improves the cell fabrication
yield especially in case of thinner silicon substrate (under
150 µm). In addition, the selective diffused area for
emitter or BSF can be formed easily without using the
conventional photolithography process. This has the
added advantage of not disembogue wastes.
And the other aspects, generally, many solar cells are
using boron doped Czochralski (Cz) silicon as substrate.
But, the recent world’s researcher on solar cells have
tended to use the phosphorus doped n-type substrate as
the base, because the conventional boron doped p-type
substrate has the problem that Boron-Oxygen complex
acts as the carrier recombination center [3].
The purpose of the present work is to apply LD
technique for the emitter or BSF formation of n-type
silicon solar cells as well as p-type substrate. And it can
be the significant advantage if the several doped area
with different condition can be formed in one laser
system, so we tried to control the doping profiles by
changing the laser output power.
In this study, the simplest LD method was applied;
the solid phase doping precursor was formed on the
substrate and then laser was irradiated in atmosphere at
room temperature. The Nd3+:YAG pulse-laser with 355
nm wavelength and repetition frequency of 34 kHz was
used as the laser source and the laser output power was
changed to control the doping profile.
N-type and p-type silicon solar cells with emitter
layer or BSF layer, which were formed by LD technique,
were fabricated without any further improvement
technique such as ARC, texturization, or passivation.
advantages of LD technique, was used to fabricate the
interdigitated type back contact cells.
2 EXPERIMENTAL
As the silicon substrates, n-type Cz substrate (1~4
Ωcm, 150 µm thickness, 1.0 x 1.0 cm2) and p-type Cz
substrate (1~4 Ωcm, 150 µm thickness, 1.0 x 1.0 cm2)
were used. The dopant contained liquid was spin-coated
onto the substrate, then subsequently dried on a hotplate
at 100oC to obtain the solid phase doping precursor. For
emitter formation, the boron contained precursor was
formed on the front side of n-type substrate and
phosphorus contained precursor was formed on the front
side of p-type substrate. For BSF formation, phosphorus
contained precursor was formed on back side of n-type
substrate with p-n junction formed by conventional heat
diffusion.
Then, the laser with wavelength of 355 nm and
repetition frequency of 34 kHz was irradiated on the
precursor coated samples in the atmosphere as shown in
Figure 1. The laser spot diameter on the sample surface
was adjusted to 50 µm. Doped area was accomplished by
moving the stage on which a sample was fixed during
laser irradiation; A xy-translation stage moved in x-
direction from edge to edge of the sample with a
scanning speed 10 µm/s then shifted 10 µm in y-direction
and this cycle was repeated. The laser output power was
varied in the range of 0.3 to 0.55 W (energy density of
sample surface was ranged from 1.2 to 2.0 W/cm2) in
order to control doping depth. As the investigation of
doping condition, the secondary ion mass spectrometry
(SIMS) measurement for the depth profile was
performed. As the reference, the conventional heat
diffusion for emitter formation was also carried out
toward both types of substrate. After the precursor
formation, samples were set into N2 atmospheric furnace
and heated 30 min at 900oC.
After the emitter or BSF formation by LD, front and
back side electrodes were evaporated. Moreover, the

-3)-3
）
interdigitated type back contact cells were fabricated. By

（cm
laser output

concentration (cm
adjusting the stage moving conditions in laser irradiation, 0.45 W
interdigitated emitter was formed on the back side of 0.475 W

Dopant concentration
0.5 W
substrates. These samples were evaluated in photovoltaic 0.525 W
properties and dark I-V measurement. 0.55 W

Carrier
355 nm Nd3+:YAG laser
Repetition frequency ：34 kHz
Laser spot diameter ：50 µm

xy-stage moves the wafer

µm）
doping depth（
Figure 2: Phosphorous concentration profiles in p-type
substrate. The laser output power was changed in the
range of 0.45 to 0.55 W

Laser doped area

（cm-3-3) ）
silicon wafer laser output

Figure 1: Process scheme of emitter-layer formation by concentration (cm

Dopantconcentration
the LD technique

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Carrier

3.1 SIMS measurement

The SIMS results which show the concentration of
phosphorous atoms doped into p-type wafer and boron
atoms doped in n-type substrate were shown in Figure 2
and Figure 3 respectively. These figures show that
dopant atoms exists the most in the vicinity of 0.05 µm
from the surface and decreased gradually along the depth
until about 0.1~0.2 µm depth in both substrates.
These results suggest that laser irradiation causes the
melting of silicon and simultaneously creates dopant
atoms by photolysis or pyrolysis of the solid doping
precursor. Then dopant atoms are incorporated into a
shallow molten region by the liquid-phase diffusion. This
is seen that dopant atoms exists the most in the vicinity
of 0.05 µm from the surface, which corresponds with the
penetration depth of 355 nm wavelength light into silicon.
Then, the activated dopant atoms by laser would diffuse
deeper. By these two phenomena going at the same time,
we observed the distribution of the dopant atom seen in
Figure 2 and Figure 3.
Dopant depth could be varied by changing the laser
output power. The higher output power was, the deeper
doping depth was. This could be caused by the difference
of supplied energy on the sample surface. However, the
amount of dopant atoms seemed to be constant when the
doping depth（µm）
Figure 3: Boron concentration profiles in n-type
substrate. The laser output power was changed in the
range of 0.3 to 0.5 W
3.2 Solar cells’ Characteristics
Figure 4 shows the dark I-V characteristic of the
fabricated p- and n-type silicon solar cells with emitter
formed by LD technique (the laser output power of 0.5
W) and heat diffusion. The laser doped sample showed
the diode characteristic (the diode ideality factor n=1.46
and 1.68 for p- and n-type substrate), then these results
confirm the formation of p-n junction by LD technique.
In lower bias voltage region, the dark I-V characteristics
of laser doped sample and the heat diffused sample
showed the almost same behavior, while in the higher
bias voltage region over 0.4 V, the difference can be
observed, indicating the higher series resistance in case
of LD technique.
forward
2） 2)

emitter formed by LD on p-type substrate

(A/cm

output power is more than 0.5 W. emitter formed by LD on n-type substrate

A/cm

These results suggest that the dopant’s diffusion emitter formed by heat diffusion
電流密度（ density

on p-type substrate
depth could be completely controlled by changing the
laser output power. This controlling of doping depth has
Current

more advantages especially if combined with selective reverse

area doping, for example the shallow emitter, 2-step
emitter, BSF and so on.
Voltage（V）
Figure 4: Dark I-V characteristic of the fabricated p- and
n-type silicon solar cells.
 Table I shows sheet resistance of the emitter layer
fabricated by conventional heat diffusion and LD
technique. Sheet resistance of laser doping is higher than
heat diffusion and this explains the higher series
resistance in LD observed in Figure 4. This high sheet
resistance is probably due to damage on surface and
doping inhomogeneous by laser irradiation.
Table I: Sheet resistance of solar cells fabricated by laser
doping and conventional heat diffusion
Sheet resistance (Ω/cm2)
Substrate
type Conventional
heat diffusion
p 63
n 73
Table. II and Figure 7 show the properties of solar
cells fabricated by LD method changing laser output
power. The higher open circuit voltage (Voc) was
obtained at the higher laser output. This is due to the
emitter layer thickness. The emitter layer thickness
depends on the laser output power as shown in Figure 2
and 3; smaller laser power caused shallower emitter, and
when the emitter was too shallow, enough built-in
voltage for solar cell couldn’t be made.
The higher laser output power (more than 0.5 W)
makes scratches on the sample surface. Thus, in this
study, the optimum laser output power is 0.5 W for now.
Laser
doping Table II: The properties of n-type solar cells fabricated
294 by LD method changing laser output power in the range
299 of 0.4 to 0.5 W

Laser
Figure 5 and figure 6 show the properties of solar Jsc
output Voc (V) F.F. (%) EFF (%)
cells fabricated by LD technique and conventional heat (mA/cm2)
(W)
diffusion of p- and n-type, respectively. In case of p-type 0.5 0.484 12.27 45.5 2.7
substrate, both LD technique and conventional heat 0.475 0.476 7.84 43.7 1.63
diffusion samples gave almost the same open circuit 0.45 0.440 7.88 38.6 1.34
voltage (Voc) and short circuit current density (Jsc). 0.4 0.439 7.623 37.2 1.24
However, using LD method gave a lower fill factor (F.F.)
compared to the conventional heat diffusion. This is due
to high series resistance described previously. In case of 0.6
n-type substrate, all solar cell parameters obtained from
LD technique were lower than those from conventional
heat diffusion.
0.5
(V)
Voc (V)

30
Voc
Current density (mA/cm2)

conventional
heat diffusion
Laser doping 0.4 p-type solar cells fabricated by LD method
20
n-type solar cells fabricated by LD method

0.3
10 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55
Lase output （W）
Figure 7: The properties of p- and n-type solar cells
0 fabricated by LD method, laser output power was varied
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 in the range of 0.4 to 0.55 W
Voltage (V)
Figure 5: Properties of p-type solar cells fabricated by 3.3 Back surface field
LD method and conventional heat diffusion LD technique was applied to form BSF layer toward
n-type silicon solar cells. The laser output power was
varied in the range of 0.3 W to 0.5 W. Table III shows
the photovoltaic characteristics of the fabricated n-type
30 silicon solar cells.
(mA/cm2)
density(mA/cm2)

conventional From this result, the effect of the BSF, formed by LD

heat diffusion process, was confirmed by the change of the Jsc in Table
20 Laser doping III. Compared to no BSF samples, the potential
difference of n and n+ layer improve the Voc. The higher
current density

open circuit voltage was obtained at the lower laser

output power. This is probably due to the small damage
10 on surface at lower output power and shallow doping
Current

depth.
For this work, the laser output power of 0.4 W is the
optimum condition. Higher F.F. was obtained at the
0 lower output power. This result suggests that series
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
Voltage (V) resistance was decreased.
Figure 6: Properties of n-type solar cells fabricated by
LD method and conventional heat diffusion
Table III: Properties of n-type solar cells formed BSF [2] T.Akane, T.Nii, S,Matumoto, Jpn. J. April. Phys. Vol.
layer fabricated by LD method 31 (1992) pp. 4437-4440
[3] S.W. Glunz, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells,
Laser output for Voc Jsc F.F. EFF (2006) 3276-3284
BSF formation (V) (mA/cm2) (%) (%)
0.5 (W) 0.484 19.88 29.5 2.84
0.475 (W) 0.506 20.09 31.2 3.17
0.45 (W) 0.511 20.27 31.4 3.25
0.4 (W) 0.546 21.83 46.6 5.56

3.4 Back contact structure

The selective doped area for emitter can be formed
easily using LD method, so the interdigitated back
contact solar cells were fabricated. Table IV shows the
properties of solar cells with the back contact structure.
Laser output was 0.5 W.
As shown in Table IV, the back contact cells gave
higher efficiency than both side cells. In this cell
structure, the values of Voc are higher than conventional
heat diffusion.
Thus, LD method is also a promising way for back
contact cell structure

Table IV: Properties of n-type solar cells with

interdigitated back contact structure
Substrate Voc Jsc F.F. EFF
type (V) (mA/cm2) (%) (%)
n 0.563 11.37 56 3.6

4 CONCLUSIONS

We applied LD technique for the emitter or BSF

formation of n-type silicon solar cells as well as p-type
substrate, using the Nd3+:YAG laser with 355 nm
wavelength, and succeeded in doped area formation and
the doping profile controlling. The dopant atoms exists
the most in the vicinity of 0.05 µm from the surface and
decreased gradually along the depth until about 0.1~0.2
µm depth and the doping depth can be controlled in the
range of 0.05 to 0.2 µm by changing the laser output
power.
The cells with laser doped emitter showed almost the
same value of Voc as conventional heat diffusion. BSF
formation and the interdigitated type back contact cells
remarkably improved Voc up to 0.54 V and 0.56 V,
respectively. However, F.F. was quit low, because of
high series resistance. This deterioration would be due to
the surface damage or doping inhomogeneous by laser
irradiation, so the improvement at this point should be
considered.
In conclusion, the LD technique could be a promising
alternative to form junction even for n-type substrate.
The further progresses toward the effect of laser’s
wavelength or damage removing will be investigated and
more optimization conditions for the emitter will be
discussed.

5 REFERENCES

[1] Y.Nishihara, Y.Takahashi, A,Ogane, J.Nigo,

Y.Uraoka, T.Fuyuki, Proceeding of the 21th EU-
PVSEC, Dresden (2006) pp. 941-944