Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232

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Results in Physics
journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/results-in-physics

Enhancing crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency with SixGe1
x layers

Adnan Ali a, S.L. Cheow b,⇑, A.W. Azhari c, K. Sopian b, Saleem H. Zaidi b
a
Department of Physics, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab 38000, Pakistan
b
Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor 43600, Malaysia
c
School of Environmental Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell represents a cost effective, environment-friendly, and proven renew-
Received 25 August 2016 able energy resource. Industrially manufacturing of c-Si solar has now matured in terms of efficiency
Received in revised form 25 November 2016 and cost. Continuing cost-effective efficiency enhancement requires transition towards thinner wafers
Accepted 25 November 2016
in near term and thin-films in the long term. Successful implementation of either of these alternatives
Available online 29 November 2016
must address intrinsic optical absorption limitation of Si. Bandgap engineering through integration with
SixGe1
x layers offers an attractive, inexpensive option. With the help of PC1D software, role of SixGe1
x
Keywords:
layers in conventional c-Si solar cells has been intensively investigated in both wafer and thin film con-
Silicon solar cell
Thin-film solar cell
figurations by varying Ge concentration, thickness, and placement. In wafer configuration, increase in Ge
Absorption in SixGe1
x layers concentration leads to enhanced absorption through bandgap broadening with an efficiency enhance-
Bandgap engineering ment of 8% for Ge concentrations of less than 20%. At higher Ge concentrations, despite enhanced optical
Hetero-junction solar cells absorption, efficiency is reduced due to substantial lowering of open-circuit voltage. In 5–25-lm thick-
Heteroepitaxial growth of SixGe1
x on Si ness, thin-film solar cell configurations, efficiency gain in excess of 30% is achievable. Therefore,
SixGe1
x based thin-film solar cells with an order of magnitude reduction in costly Si material are
ideally-suited both in terms of high efficiency and cost. Recent research has demonstrated significant
improvement in epitaxially grown SixGe1
x layers on nanostructured Si substrates, thereby enhancing
potential of this approach for next generation of c-Si based photovoltaics.
Ó 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Introduction Si PV global production was at 2 GW in 2002 and reached 100 GW

World is facing unprecedented economic and environmental
challenges in view of rapid population growth and over-reliance
on fossil fuels. Although it has been predicted that fossil fuels will
deplete anywhere between 35 and 100 years [1]; long before their
extinction, their socio-economic and environmental damages may
well become catastrophic making transition to renewable energy
resources unavoidable. Sunlight is the only abundant, reliable, free,
and uniformly distributed energy resource. Daily solar insolation
on Earth is 173, 000 TW [2]. One hour of sunlight on earth is
4.3  1020 J; sufficient to meet energy requirements of the entire
population for one year [3].
Sunlight conversion into electricity is based on the photovoltaic
(PV) effect [4]. Of all the semiconductors (amorphous or crys-
talline), crystalline Si is the least expensive, the most abundant
(26% of Earth’s crust), and uniformly distributed element on earth
[5]. The Si PV industry controls almost 90% of the global market [6].
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cheow@ukm.edu.my (S.L. Cheow).
in 2012 [7]. The current cost of Si-based PV modules at 0.6 USD/
W is still three times higher than conventional electricity [8]. In Si
photovoltaics, the wafer itself contributes almost 50% of [9]. There-
fore, using thinner solar cell wafers has been an effective solution
[10]. This evolutionary approach to thinner (<150 lm) wafers is
now approach fundamental limitations in terms of thermal expan-
sion mismatch with Aluminum back contact [11], reduced
mechanical strength [12], and inability to effectively absorb sun-
light [13].
Thin-Film (TF) photovoltaics are attractive alternatives to
wafers. At present, the TF PV market share is approximately 10%
[14]. Inherent advantages of TF technology include dry, large area
processing, low cost substrates such as plastics, and direct config-
uration of solar cells into modules [15]. Successful TF technologies
include Copper Indium gallium Sulphur (CIGS), Cadmium Telluride
(CdTe), and multi-junction a-Si/SixGe1
x/Ge. Thin-film amorphous
(a)-Si technologies represent lowest module efficiency due in large
part to inability to effectively absorb all sunlight [16]. Despite
improvements with multi-junctions, efficiencies are still low in
large part due to light-induced performance degradation [17].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2016.11.060
2211-3797/Ó 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
226 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232
The non-Si TF solar cell efficiencies are significantly higher. The
reported highest efficiencies of CdTe and CIGS solar cells are
19% whereas module efficiencies are 11–15% range [18]. Some
of the long-term challenges for these technologies include resource
depletion and environmental hazards [19]. Finally, the compound
semiconductor PV technology based on GaAs/InGaAs and GaN/
InGaN multi-junction approach offers significantly higher efficien-
cies in 25–40% range. These technologies are based on hazardous
materials with material cost two orders of magnitude higher mak-
ing them suitable mostly for space applications. For long term
industrial production of solar cells, careful analysis of resource
depletion and environmental impact must be taken into account.
For instance, the reserves of In and Ga are not sufficient to meet
the energy demands [20].
Because of its indirect bandgap, weak optical absorption near
the bandgap, and inability to absorb all sunlight, the efficiencies
of both silicon wafer and TF solar cells are fundamentally limited
[21]. Surface texturing either through nc-Si:H films or nanostruc-
tures can significantly enhance optical absorption; however, it is
not able to create absorption beyond the bandgap [22]. Bandgap
engineering has been investigated in order to enhance absorption
beyond the bandgap through integration of Si with other low band-
gap semiconductors such as Ge in the form of SixGe1
x alloys [23].
These SixGe1
x alloys can control spectral absorption between Si
and Ge bandgaps, thus enabling utilization of the entire available
solar spectrum. A brief historical review of the role of SixGe1
x lay-
ers in Si solar cells is presented here. Sun et al., reported on a TF
solar cell structure consisting of 10-lm thick Si film on the front
and a thick Ge substrate at the back with a tunnel junction at
Si-Ge interface. Predicted efficiency for this tunnel junction Si/Ge
solar cell was estimated in 19–28% range for 1–1000 x sunlight
concentrations [24]. Christoffel et al., reported on PC1D-based sim-
ulations of Si/ SixGe1
x solar cells as a function of Ge concentration.
Predicted enhancement in efficiency was 0.7% at 20% Ge content
for 20-lm cell thickness [25]. Borne et al., reported on efficiency
enhancement of 0.88% by integrating a layer of Si0.92Ge00.08 in the
emitter region of the Si solar cell [26]. Healy and Green carried
out PC1D-based analysis of SixGe1
x alloys with Ge compositions
as high as 28% and reported on improved performance in thin
( 70 lm) solar cells [27]. Liao et al., reported on approximately
4% enhancement in efficiency with Ge composition of 10% in
SixGe1
x /Si solar cell configuration [28]. Koschier et al., carried
out PC1D analysis of 16% efficiency SixGe1
x substrate solar cells
with a multilayer approach [29]. Said et al., reported on the growth
and fabrication of Si/SixGe1
x solar cells using chemical vapor depo-
sition. Their structures exhibited dislocation density of 105 cm
2
with high minority carrier diffusion length [30]. Solar cell effi-
ciency of 11% was demonstrated at Ge concentration <0.1% for
15-lm device thickness. More recently, Liao et al., have reported
on textured SixGe1
x solar cells operating at 18% efficiency [31].
This brief review illustrates that higher efficiencies are achievable
with SixGe1
x solar cells.
Due to 4% lattice and 50% thermal expansion mismatches
between Si and Ge, epitaxial growth of Ge and SixGe1
x alloys on
Si substrates leads to high density of threading dislocations and
cracks [32]. Several approaches including virtual substrate [33],
finite area growth [34], thermal cycling, and nanostructures [35]
have been investigated. Tao and Hanna reported on the growth
of Ge rich SixGe1
x thin film (0.78 lm) with dislocation density
7  105/cm2 at low temperature 350 °C on Si substrate by Reactive
thermal CVD [36]. Oshima et al., have demonstrated the stepwise
growth of SixGe1
x buffer layers with minimum dislocation density
105 cm
2 [32]. Vanamu et al., have used micro and nanostructures
as defect gettering centers for CVD growth of Ge and SixGe1
x thin
films and demonstrated defect densities in 105 cm
2 range [37].
Finally, recent work by Azhari et al., at UKM, briefly summarized
at the end of this paper, has exhibited promise in synthesis of Six-
Ge1
x layers using simple approaches [38].
This paper has focused on a systematic review of the role of Six-
Ge1
x layers in Si-based solar cells. Earlier work has either concen-
trated on wafer or thin films with insufficient description of solar
cell configurations regarding location and concentration of SixGe1
x
layers within the cell. This paper addresses these limitations by
examining the role of SixGe1
x either as emitter or back surface lay-
ers and evaluating comparative advantages of wafer versus thin
film configurations. This paper has been divided into two parts:
the first part investigated the Si solar cell efficiency enhancement
as a function of Ge concentration in SixGe1
x layers in wafer-
based configurations and the second part explores efficiency vari-
ation as a function of Ge concentration in SixGe1
x thin (5–
25 lm) film Si solar cells.
Simulation procedure
In all simulations, commercially available PC1D software has
been employed [39]. Simulation analysis, based on alloys or com-
posite materials such as SixGe1
x, InxGa1
xN, and InxGa1
xAs, require
a priori determination of device parameters including the spectral
absorption, temperature response, minority carrier lifetime, intrin-
sic carrier concentration, and bandgap. Absorption coefficient is
usually measured through curve-fitting of optical the absorption
of SixGe1
x layers in UV and IR range [40]. Accordingly, the absorp-
tion coefficients were calculated by the two direct and eight indi-
rect bandgap energies:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ai ¼ Ai hm
EGi ð2:1Þ
ðhm
EGi  Epj Þ
2
aij ¼ Aij i; j ¼ 1; 2 ð2:2Þ
ðeEpj =kT
1Þ
where A, h, m, EGi, Epj, k and T are Planck’s constant, photon fre-
quency, direct bandgap energy, phonon energy, Boltzmann con-
stant, and temperature respectively. To determine bandgaps for
any range of SixGe1
x alloys, the bandgaps data of Si is interpolated
since it linear up to 80% Ge content. Rest of the parameters was
determined by using basic semiconductor formalism [41].
In simulations reported here, absorption co-efficient for various
Ge contents in the SixGe1
x layer extracted from literature and cal-
culations was input into text files by exercising the PC1D external
file option [42]. The following solar cell configurations were
investigated.
Wafer-based
i. Si solar cell with SixGe1
x layer at the rear surface,
ii. Si solar cell with SixGe1
x layer at the front surface,
iii. Si solar cell solar cell with SixGe1
x layers at the front and
rear surfaces, and
iv. Si solar cell based on SixGe1
x composite material.
Thin-film
In thin-film configuration, minority carrier diffusion length is
not critical with uniform absorption inside the film.
Wafer-based SixGe1
X layer configurations
This section has been divided into five sub-sections. First sec-
tion establishes a baseline with 19% efficiency crystalline Si solar
cell. Remaining sub-sections investigate performance variation
with placement and Ge content of the SixGe1
x layers in the solar
cell.
 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232 227

Crystalline silicon solar cell Table 1

PC1D Simulation Parameters for Solar cells.

Industrially produced solar cell is based on p-doped wafer with Device Parameters Wafer
thickness of 200 lm operating at 19% efficiency. Figure 1 Emitter doping (cm )
3
1  1020
describes conventional structure of c-Si solar cell; for the sake of Emitter thickness (lm) 0.4
simplicity, texture, SiN anti-reflection film, blanket back surface Base Resistivity (X-cm) 1.47
Al film, and front surface Ag contacts have not been indicated. Thickness (lm) 200
Lifetime (ls) 200
Table 1 summarizes the process parameters used in simulation. BSF doping (cm
3) 5  1019
With this configuration, the solar cell efficiency was 18.8% with BSF thickness (lm) 5
short-circuit current density, JSC of 37.3 mA/cm2 and VOC of FSRV (cm/s) 50,000
635.6 mV. In all subsequent calculations, the process parameters BSRV (cm/s) 50,000
Series resistance (X-cm2) 0.7
summarized in Table 1 will be used.

Rear surface SiXGe1
X layer

With a SixGe1
x layer at the rear surface (Fig. 2), the influence of
enhanced IR absorption beyond Si band gap of 1.1 lm can be
n+-Si
examined. The alloy region was varied in composition and thick-
ness along with the doping concentration in order to determine
the highest efficiency. Figure 3 plots simulation data for solar cell
efficiency as a function of Ge concentration. The optimized Ge con-
centration was within 0–10% in the SixGe1
x alloy. The maximum
efficiency was observed at 6-lm thickness (please see the insert
p-doped wafer
in Fig. 3). Efficiency increases initially as a function of thickness
due to enhanced optical absorption. For thicker films, efficiency
reduction is attributed to continuous reduction in open circuit
voltage even as short-circuit continues to increase.

Front surface SiXGe1
X layer

p-SixGe1-x
Solar cell emitter configuration was evaluated with three differ-
ent approaches. Figure 4(a) illustrates a conventional n-emitter p+-Si
layer followed by either n or p-SixGe1
x layer. This configuration
serves to enhance near IR absorption and reduce carrier recombi- Fig. 2. Wafer-based crystalline Si solar cell configuration with rear surface SixGe1
x
nation. In Fig. 4(b), the n-Si emitter is replaced with n-Ge followed back surface field used for PC1D simulations.
by either n or p-SixGe1
x layer. In this configuration, absorption is
significantly enhanced. The presence of SixGe1
x alloy serves to
reduce strain between emitter (Ge) and base Si layers. In the third
configuration, described in Fig. 4(c), n-SixGe1
x becomes the emit-
ter layer.
Figure 5 plots solar cell efficiency response as a function of
SixGe1
x layer thickness (Fig. 4a). A shallow maximum in efficiency
is observed as efficiency increases from 18.8% to 19.1% at the
optimum thickness of 7 lm. Simulation results of the second

n+-Si

p-doped wafer Fig. 3. Efficiency variation as a function of Ge concentration for rear surface SixGe1
x
back surface field, wafer-based c-Si solar cell; inset illustrates efficiency variation as
a function of layer thickness for 10% Ge concentration.

configuration (Fig. 4b) with Ge as emitter are illustrated in Fig. 6.

The efficiency for this configuration is pretty low. Figure 7 plots
simulation results for the third configuration (Fig. 4c) in which
p+-Si the emitter layer is n-SixGe1
x. The efficiency decreases as Ge con-
centration in SixGe1
x layer is increased. The efficiency is reduced
Fig. 1. Wafer-based crystalline Si solar cell configuration used for PC1D from 17.9% for 14.5% as Ge content in the alloy layer is increased
simulations. from 4% to 40%.
228 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232

n+-Si n+-Ge
n or p-SixGe1-x n or p-SixGe1-x

p-doped wafer p-doped wafer

p+-Si p+-Si
Fig. 4. Wafer-based crystalline Si solar cell configurations for (a) front surface SixGe1
x alloy capped with Si emitter, (b) front surface SixGe1
x alloy capped with Ge emitter,
and (c) front SixGe1
x as the emitter.

Fig. 5. Efficiency variation as a function of thickness of front surface SixGe1
x alloy

Fig. 7. Efficiency variation as a function of Ge concentration for front surface
capped with Si emitter in wafer-based c-Si solar cell at 20% Ge concentration.
SixGe1
x emitter in wafer-based c-Si solar cell.

n+-Si
n or p-SixGe1-x

p-doped wafer

Fig. 6. Efficiency variation as a function of thickness of front surface SixGe1
x alloy

p-SixGe1-x
capped with Ge emitter in wafer-based c-Si solar cell at 20% Ge concentration.

Front and rear surface SiXGe1
X layers
Figure 8 represents solar cell configuration with SixGe1
x alloys
at both top and bottom surfaces. The thickness of either layer
(front or rear) was kept at pre-determined optimized values while
the other thickness was varied. Figure 9 plots efficiency variations
as a function of SixGe1
x thickness for two different Ge concentra-
p+-Si
Fig. 8. Wafer-based crystalline Si solar cell configuration with front and back
SixGe1
x alloys capped with Si.
tions. During optimization, it was noted that a variation in the
thickness of the front layer thickness had pronounced impact,
 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232 229

Fig. 9. Efficiency variation as a function of front and back surface SixGe1
x alloy Fig. 11. Efficiency variation as a function of Ge concentration for three composite
thickness at 10% and 20% Ge concentrations in wafer-based c-Si solar cell. SixGe1
x wafer solar cell configurations identified in Fig. 10.

therefore, simulations plotted in Fig. 9 exhibit variation as a func-

tion of SixGe1
x layer thickness for Ge concentrations of 10% (black
line) and 20% (red line); higher performance is observed for the
20% Ge concentration.

SiXGe1
X composite wafer

As an alternative to Si wafer, a wafer with fixed SixGe1
x content

was also investigated; three possible solar cell configurations have
been schematically drawn in Fig. 10. Figure 10(a) represents Six-
Ge1
x wafer with front and rear surface Si emitter and BSF layers,
Fig. 10(b) represents SixGe1
x wafer with front surface Si emitter
layer and rea surface SixGe1
x alloy, and Fig. 10(c) represents
100% composite SixGe1
x wafer solar cell configuration. Figure 11
plots the simulation results for efficiency as a function of Ge con-
centration for all three configurations. The black line in Fig. 11 rep-
resents behavior of SixGe1
x solar cell exhibiting a maximum
Fig. 12. Efficiency variations as a function of Ge concentration for three composite
efficiency of 19.2% at Ge concentration of 10%. The blue line in SixGe1
x thin-film solar cell configurations identified in Fig. 10, efficiency variation
Fig. 11 represents SixGe1
x solar cell with front surface Si emitter, of thin-film Si solar cell has also been plotted for reference.
it is characterized by slightly higher efficiency of 19.7%. Finally,
the red line in Fig. 11 describes behavior of SixGe1
x solar cell with
Si emitter and back surface layers. A broad efficiency variation as a Thin-film SiXGe1
X layer configurations
function of Ge concentration in 10–20% range is observed with a
maximum efficiency of 20.3% at Ge concentration of 20%; this Simulations for solar cell configurations described in Fig. 10(a–c)
represents the most efficient wafer-based solar cell configuration. were carried in 5–25-lm thickness range. Figure 12 plots

n+-Si n+-Si n-SixGe1-x

p-SixGe1-x p-SixGe1-x p-SixGe1-x

(a) p+-Si (b) p+-SixGe1-x (c) p+-SixGe1-x

Fig. 10. Wafer-based SixGe1
x solar cell configurations for (a) front and rear surface Si emitter and BSF, (b) front surface Si emitter and rear surface SixGe1
x BSF, and (c) front
and rear surface SixGe1
x emitter and BSF.
230 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232

Table 2
Summary of wafer-based solar cell parameters.

Configuration Front Back Composite Efficiency (%) V (V) JSC (mA/cm2)

Si – – – 18.8 635.6 37.3
p
Si1
xGex – – 19.1 617.5 39.4
p
– – – 18.9 630 37.64
p p
– – 19.04 618.4 39.37
p
– – – 20.3 608.8 42.5
Ge – – – 6.57 214.2 51.6

tration was kept at 20%. The efficiency variation is similar to that

observed for wafer-based solar cells except that the efficiency boost
relative to Si solar cell is significantly higher.

Discussion of results

A detailed analysis of the role of SixGe1
x layers in wafer and

Fig. 13. Light current-voltage (a) and external quantum efficiency (b) simulations
of the highest efficiency Si, Ge, and SixGe1
x wafer based solar cells.
efficiencies as a function of thickness for the three configurations;
for comparison, variation of TF Si solar cell (green line) efficiency
has also been included. In Fig. 12, black line represents efficiency
variation of SixGe1
x solar cell, blue line represents SixGe1
x solar cell
with Si front surface emitter, and the red line represents SixGe1
x
solar with Si as emitter as BSF layers; for all simulations, Ge concen-
thin-film solar cells has been carried out. Performance of solar cells
was simulated both as a function of SixGe1
x layer location and Ge
concentration. A succinct summary of simulations for wafer-based
solar cells is presented in Table 2. In all cases, integration with Six-
Ge1
x layers results in efficiency enhancement. The highest abso-
lute efficiency was determined to be 20.3% representing relative
enhancement of 8% relative to wafer-based Si solar cell. This
highest efficiency solar cell is based on composite SixGe1
x wafer
with Si emitter and BSF layers. The light current-voltage (LIV)
and external quantum efficiency (EQE) responses of the highest
efficiency Si, SixGe1
x, and Ge solar cells have been plotted in
Fig. 13(a) and (b) respectively. It is noted that, as expected, incor-
poration of SixGe1
x layers increases the absorption coefficient
resulting in higher current densities. However, higher solar cell
performance is limited by the lower voltage of Ge-based material.
Therefore, in wafer-based solar cells, role of SixGe1
x layers in
boosting efficiency at best is marginal.
Table 3 summarize simulation results for TF solar cells. Substan-
tial gains in efficiency are observed. The role of SixGe1
x layers
becomes more pronounced as total cell thickness is reduced. At
reduced thicknesses, the absorption coefficient enhancement com-
pensates faster for lowering in cell voltage. The highest efficiency
for 25-lm thick SixGe1
x solar cell is observed to be 20.46% repre-
senting relative enhancement of 17%. For the 5-lm thick SixGe1
x
solar cell, the highest efficiency was 19.44% representing relative
enhancement of 30%.
The LIV and EQE measurements plotted in Fig. 14(a) and (b) for
5-lm thickness illustrate the enhancement in current densities
due to SixGe1
x layers while the reduction in VOC is minimized
due to reduced thickness. For the 25-lm thick SixGe1
x layers,
the efficiency of 20.46% is higher than the 200-lm thick Si solar
cell by about 9% while reducing Si thickness by a factor of 8.
Therefore, in TF configurations, the role SixGe1
x alloy is critically
important in enhancing efficiency and reducing cost. All the simu-
lations were carried out for monofacial solar cell configuration. The
results of simulations, however, are equally applicable to both bifa-
cial and back-contact solar cells.

Table 3
Summary of thin-film solar cell parameters.

Configuration Si Front Si Back Composite Efficiency (%) VOC (V) JSC (mA/cm2)
25 lm 5 lm 25 lm 5 lm 25 lm 5 lm
Si – – – 17.44 15.0 632.3 628.6 34.53 29.74
p
Si1
xGex – – 18.31 16.97 602.7 601 38.61 35.76
p p
– – 18.9 17.95 588.7 587.9 41.1 38.99
p p p
– 20.46 19.44 632.4 634.6 41.13 38.85
Ge – – – 5.85 5.4 215.4 214 49.2 46.5
 A. Ali et al. / Results in Physics 7 (2017) 225–232
Fig. 14. Light current-voltage (a) and external quantum efficiency (b) simulations
of the highest efficiency Si, Ge, and SixGe1
x thin-film solar cells.
Summary
Detailed simulation study has been carried out for experimen-
tally achievable Si wafer and thin film solar cell configurations.
The efficiency of Si solar cell is boosted by overcoming the intrinsic
limitation on its absorption spectrum through integration with
varying location and content of Ge in SixGe1
x. The potential of
SixGe1
x based c-Si solar cells was explored in conventional mono-
facial solar cell configurations. For the wafer based cells, the max-
imum efficiency boost was at 8% was nominal at best. For thin-film
solar cells, the SixGe1
x layer incorporation leads to significant effi-
ciency boost. For 5-lm thick solar cell, 30% enhancement was
observed and would be higher as film thicknesses are reduced;
the optimum Ge concentration was observed to be 20%. In conclu-
sion, SixGe1
x based c-Si thin-film solar cells represent an attractive
and inexpensive route towards higher efficiency solar cells.
Heteroepitaxial growth of SixGe1
x alloys on Si continues to be a
subject of enduring interest due to a host of micro and optoelec-
tronics applications. Recently, high quality SixGe1
x growth using
inexpensive non-CVD based methods has been demonstrated
[38]. Fig. 15(a) shows top surface scanning electron microscope
picture of epitaxial SixGe1
x alloy on nanostructured Si substrates
as a function of annealing temperature in 400–1000 °C tempera-
ture range; its Raman spectrum is plotted in Fig. 15(b). The film
surface is smooth and free of cross-hatch patterns typical of such
films on planar surfaces. As appropriate Ge heteroepitaxial growth
methods are perfected on Si, this will lead in time to enhanced
231
Fig. 15. Scanning electron microscope picture of non-CVD process based SixGe1
x
alloy gown on nanostructured Si substrate (a) and its Raman scattering response
following annealing at measurements at 400–1000 °C temperatures (b).
Si-based optoelectronics, inexpensive higher efficiency, multi-
junction solar cells for terrestrial and space environment, IR detec-
tors in 1.1–1.5-lm range, and finally to inexpensive, high effi-
ciency, thin-film Si/ SixGe1
x solar cells.
Acknowledgements
Authors would like to thank Solar Energy Research Institute,
UKM, MOSTI under LRGS grant LRGS/TD/2011/USM-UKM/KTA/03
and Higher Education Commission, Pakistan under grant 1-14/
PPCR/R&D/HEC/2014 for providing the financial support and tech-
nical assistance.
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