The modulation of surface texture for single-crystalline Si solar cells using calibrated silver nanoparticles as a catalyst.

We have employed Ag nanoparticles with calibrated size as catalysts to modulate the surface texture of single-crystalline Si surfaces for reducing sunlight reflectivity. Both experiments and theoretical analysis have proved that a well-organized microporous structure on the pyramids can be obtained by optimizing the size of Ag nanoparticles and the texturing time, and the Si wafer with such structures can effectively reduce the reflectivity of sunlight. However, based on the conventional cell fabrication process, the performance of silicon solar cells with such microporous structures gets degraded. It is closely associated with the strong surface recombination and the high phosphorus diffusion barrier induced by the microporous textures. These results are interesting for us to understand the application of nanotechnology on the silicon solar cell.