Atomic Layer Deposited Al1-xNixO: Low Contact Resistivity Hole-Selective Contact for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Transition metal oxide (TMO)/crystalline silicon (c-Si) junction-based heterostructure crystalline silicon solar cells have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional silicon solar cells. However, the power conversion efficiency of c-Si solar cells utilizing a nickel oxide (NiOx) hole transport layer (HTL) still lags behind those employing a fully developed TMO layer. This disparity may be attributed, at least in part, to inefficient hole extraction. Atomic layer deposited (ALD) aluminum nickel oxide (Al1-xNixO) films, synthesized using bis(N,N '-di-t-butylacetamidinato)nickel(II) (NiAMD) and trimethylaluminum (TMA) as precursors, along with deionized water as a co-reactant, have been observed to improve the contact properties with p-type silicon compared to NiOx. Al1-xNixO films with varying Al concentrations (0.25, 0.44, and 0.87) are examined for their contact performance on p-Si, resulting in the lowest contact resistivity of 85 m Omega cm(2). Optimized Al1-xNixO films exhibit superior hole extraction capability from p-type silicon, leading to a remarkable conversion efficiency of 19.35% in the constructed p-Si/Al1-xNixO/Ag solar cell. These findings underscore the advantages of utilizing ALD Al1-xNixO as a hole-selective contact for crystalline p-Si solar cells.