Effects of pretexturization chemical processing on the optical and morphological properties of solar-grade monocrystalline silicon wafers

• Main Authors: Md. Mahfuzur Rahman, Subir C. Ghosh, Mohammad Khairul Basher, Mohammad Abu Sayid Haque, Khandker Saadat Hossain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2020-12-01
• Series: AIP Advances
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0033604

Surface texturization is a route to improving the efficiency of silicon solar cells by enhancing their light trapping ability. In this paper, solar-grade, monocrystalline, unpolished, silicon wafers were chemically processed via different routes before texturization. The effect of this pre-texturization processing on the morphological evolution with corresponding changes in optical properties has been systematically studied with a scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It has been found that the uniformity and size distribution of pyramid structures, as well as the reflectance of the textured surfaces, depend on the pre-textured chemical processing. Moreover, it has also been found that etching the oxide layer with HF prior to texturization does not affect the optical properties of textured silicon substrates.