RF Magnetron Sputtering Aluminum Oxide Film for Surface Passivation on Crystalline Silicon Wafers

Aluminum oxide films were deposited on crystalline silicon substrates by reactive RF magnetron sputtering. The influences of the deposition parameters on the surface passivation, surface damage, optical properties, and composition of the films have been investigated. It is found that proper sputtering power and uniform magnetic field reduced the surface damage from the high-energy ion bombardment to the silicon wafers during the process and consequently decreased the interface trap density, resulting in the good surface passivation; relatively high refractive index of aluminum oxide film is benefic to improve the surface passivation. The negative-charged aluminum oxide film was then successfully prepared. The surface passivation performance was further improved after postannealing by formation of an SiOx interfacial layer. It is demonstrated that the reactive sputtering is an effective technique of fabricating aluminum oxide surface passivation film for low-cost high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells.