Project description
Characterising the properties and behaviours of nitrogen-doped silicon
Since the first practical solar cell in 1950, silicon has been fundamental to the development and evolution of photovoltaic technologies. Monocrystalline silicon now has the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE). Researchers seeking to push the PCE even higher must overcome certain production challenges: susceptibility to defects (additional atoms or missing atoms) and reaction of oxygen atoms where other atoms are missing. Nitrogen suppresses defects in a dose-dependent manner and improves oxygen precipitation, preventing oxygen from interacting with the vacancies. Exploiting this call for a greater understanding of the mechanisms. The EU-funded ENFORCE project aims to bridge the knowledge gap with quantitative data on the chemical and physical properties of nitrogen in silicon.
Objective
Silicon solar cells are the most commercialized photovoltaic devices due to their high-power conversion efficiencies (PCE). Over the different types of silicon substrates for solar cells, monocrystalline silicon is the one with the highest PCE reported.
Monocrystalline silicon is commonly grown by the Czochralski method, a process in which a small seed crystal is dipped into a melt in a crucible, pulling the seed upwards to obtain a single crystal. Nonetheless, by the same process, two types of intrinsic defects can be incorporated: additional atoms (interstitials) or missing atoms (vacancies); additionally, the crucible used is generally silica, so the result is an oxygen contaminated ingot. Oxygen tends to react with vacancies, seriously affecting the PCE of the synthesized solar cells.
Nitrogen has long been known to simultaneously suppress interstitial and vacancy related defects, the higher the nitrogen concentration, the lower the defect size, which is highly favourable for defect annealing; besides, strongly enhances oxygen precipitation. Unfortunately, quantitative data on the chemical and physical properties of nitrogen in silicon are rare, so the mechanism through which it reacts with intrinsic defects and oxygen is still relatively unknown. In consequence, it is not possible to know what variables should be modified to improve the quality of the crystal.
The main idea of this project is to investigate the effect mechanism of nitrogen on grown-in oxygen precipitates. A complete understanding would lead us to find the ideal conditions to dope silicon with nitrogen, in order to reduce defect sizes and the oxygen amount to a minimum, so as to reach the maximum PCE in a monocrystalline silicon solar cell.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.4.1.5 - Fostering brain circulation of researchers and excellence initiatives
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-04
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
MSD 2080 MSIDA
Malta
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.