FRANCESCA MENCHINI

Dottoressa di ricerca

ciclo: XXXV


Titolo della tesi: Transparent selective contacts for silicon-based heterojunction solar cells

Renewable energies are nowadays recognised to be the protagonists of a necessary sustainable transition in the energy production process. Among the existing technologies, photovoltaic (PV) stands out for the infinite availability of the source, the direct efficient energy transformation and for low global energy costs. These reasons drive the global research toward materials and methods to obtain higher and higher efficiencies. Beyond the well-assessed silicon-based homojunction technology, that covers the 95% of the total PV production, the amorphous/crystalline-silicon heterojunction concept is gaining increasing market share. Heterojunctions (HJs) are able to overcome some shortcomings of homojunctions, such as the high thermal budget connected to the diffusion process to achieve the doping and to the recombination losses that limit the VOC. However HJs still require complex architectures and the use of toxic and dangerous gases, which demand costly measures for a safe industrial manufacturing. A new approach to circumvent some of the above-mentioned issues is currently explored with increasing interest, and involves the use of non-doped, non-silicon films to replace the amorphous-silicon ones. A great variety of materials has already been proposed and tested for the purpose, but some challenges still have to be completely solved, first of all the resistance to thermal annealing at 200-250°C, that is a necessary step in module assembling. Moreover, in view of an industrial application, the manufacture of these novel materials needs to satisfy several constrains and then guarantee an easy and high-throughput process. In this thesis the attention is focused on some of these novel materials for both emitter and base contacts of a heterostructure solar cell based on n-type doped crystalline silicon. In particular nickel oxide and titanium oxide or zinc sulphide are exploited as selective emitter and base contact respectively. These materials have to be more transparent than the doped amorphous layer counterpart to enhance the quantum yield of the solar cell in the blue region of the solar spectrum where the amorphous films introduce parasitic absorptions. Moreover the substitute layers must be deposited on the well-assessed thin buffer layer of amorphous silicon suboxide used in our laboratory to passivate the surfaces of the silicon wafer, therefore the most relevant constrain to fulfil is to avoid any contamination and any detrimental thermal stress of the surface passivation. On the basis of these requirements, particular care will be given to the choice of the deposition procedures as well as to the choice of the doping elements to be introduced into the selective contacts. The measurement of silicon surface passivation will be adopted as the most relevant method to evaluate the suitability of materials and manufacturing methods. Numerical simulations will also be used to evaluate the ideal band diagram of the proposed heterostructures and to verify how differences in the experimental properties of the materials with respect to ideality could affect the heterostructure device performances. In analogy with the doped amorphous layers used in conventional HJs, also the proposed novel materials for selective contacts need to be coupled to a transparent conductive oxide to make up for the poor lateral conductivity that still remains a basic issue of any selective layer proposed in the literature up to now. In this thesis another promising material is tested as an alternative to indium tin oxide, namely tungsten-doped indium oxide. It is found that non-reactive radio-frequency sputtering is suited to grow transparent films with very high mobility and low resistivity due a low carrier concentration that reduces parasitic absorptions. Most importantly, the sputtering damage to surface passivation of the crystalline silicon substrates can be completely recovered after a suitable thermal annealing. All the discussed results show that ideal materials or totally qualified deposition methods for obtaining alternative selective contacts have yet to be found, mostly from the point of view of the resistance to thermal treatments. This thesis adds some tiles to the road to high-efficiency, low-thermal budget, low-toxicity, high-throughput silicon-based heterojunctions.

Produzione scientifica

11573/1696501 - 2023 - Lithium-doped Nickel Oxide Grown by Different PVD Methods for Hole-Selective Contact in Silicon-Based Heterojunctions
Menchini, Francesca; Rakhshani, Somayyeh; Serenelli, Luca; Martini, Luca; Salza, E.; Mangiapane, P.; Izzi, Massimo; Latini, Alessandro; Tucci, Mario - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 40th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (Lisbon, Portugal)
libro: 40th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference - ()

11573/1621045 - 2022 - Efficacy of combined mechanical and chemical decontamination treatments on smooth and rough titanium surfaces and their effects on osteoconduction: an ex vivo study
Lollobrigida, M.; Lamazza, L.; Di Pietro, M.; Filardo, S.; Lopreiato, M.; Mariano, A.; Bozzuto, G.; Molinari, A.; Menchini, F.; Piattelli, A.; De Biase, A. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL IMPLANTS () pp. 57-66 - issn: 1942-4434 - wos: WOS:000770232700010 (2) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85125614144 (3)

11573/1550659 - 2021 - Selective contacts and fill factor limitations in heterojunction solar cells
Serenelli, L.; Martini, L.; Menchini, F.; Izzi, M.; De Cesare, G.; Condorelli, G.; Gerardi, C.; Munoz, D.; Tucci, M. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS (John Wiley & Sons Limited:1 Oldlands Way, Bognor Regis, P022 9SA United Kingdom:011 44 1243 779777, EMAIL: cs-journals@wiley.co.uk, INTERNET: http://www.wiley.co.uk, Fax: 011 44 1243 843232) pp. 1-9 - issn: 1062-7995 - wos: WOS:000651642000001 (3) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85105974930 (3)

11573/1617265 - 2020 - Copper-based corrole as thermally stable hole transporting material for perovskite photovoltaics
Agresti, Antonio; Berionni Berna, Beatrice; Pescetelli, Sara; Catini, Alexandro; Menchini, Francesca; Di Natale, Corrrado; Paolesse, Roberto; Di Carlo, Aldo - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS (Weinheim: Wiley-VCH-Verl..) pp. 1-11 - issn: 1616-3028 - wos: WOS:000568768100001 (21) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85090443539 (24)

11573/1416290 - 2020 - Mechanically stacked, two-terminal graphene-based perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell with efficiency over 26%
Lamanna, Enrico; Matteocci, Fabio; Calabrò, Emanuele; Serenelli, Luca; Salza, Enrico; Martini, Luca; Menchini, Francesca; Izzi, Massimo; Agresti, Antonio; Pescetelli, Sara; Bellani, Sebastiano; Del Río Castillo, Antonio Esaú; Bonaccorso, Francesco; Tucci, Mario; Di Carlo, Aldo - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: JOULE ([Cambridge MA] : Cell Press Elsevier Inc.) pp. 865-881 - issn: 2542-4351 - wos: WOS:000527264500017 (105) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85082878462 (116)

11573/1508632 - 2020 - A novel water-resistant and thermally stable black lead halide perovskite, phenyl viologen lead iodide C22H18N2(PbI3)2
Latini, A.; Quaranta, S.; Menchini, F.; Lisi, N.; Di Girolamo, D.; Tarquini, O.; Colapietro, M.; Barba, L.; Demitri, N.; Cassetta, A. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: DALTON TRANSACTIONS (Royal Society of Chemistry:Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Cambridge CB4 0WF United Kingdom:011 44 1223 432360, EMAIL: sales@rsc.org, INTERNET: http://www.rsc.org, http://www.chensoc.org, Fax: 011 44 1223 423429) pp. 2616-2627 - issn: 1477-9226 - wos: WOS:000517990300025 (10) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85080095354 (10)

11573/1384877 - 2020 - The prevention of implant surface alterations in the treatment of reri-implantitis: comparison of three different mechanical and physical treatments
Lollobrigida, Marco; Fortunato, Lorenzo; Serafini, Giorgio; Mazzucchi, Giulia; Bozzuto, Giuseppina; Molinari, Agnese; Serra, Emanuele; Menchini, Francesca; Vozza, Iole; De Biase, Alberto - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH (Basel: MDPI 2003-) pp. 2624- - issn: 1660-4601 - wos: WOS:000535744100009 (15) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85083415095 (17)

11573/1416246 - 2020 - Silicon heterojunction solar cells toward higher fill factor
Martini, L.; Serenelli, L.; Menchini, F.; Izzi, M.; Tucci, M. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS (John Wiley & Sons Limited:1 Oldlands Way, Bognor Regis, P022 9SA United Kingdom:011 44 1243 779777, EMAIL: cs-journals@wiley.co.uk, INTERNET: http://www.wiley.co.uk, Fax: 011 44 1243 843232) pp. 307-320 - issn: 1062-7995 - wos: WOS:000507373500001 (13) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85078036364 (14)

11573/1366808 - 2019 - Transparent WOx window layers for silicon based heterojunction solar cells
Menchini, Francesca; Serenelli, Luca; Martini, Luca; Albano, Andrea; Mangiapane, Pietro; Salza, Enrico; Stracci, Glauco; De Cesare, Giampiero; Caputo, Domenico; Tucci, Mario - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: (PVSC 46) 46TH IEEE PHOTOVOLTAIC SPECIALISTS CONFERENCE (CHICAGO, IL)
libro: proceedings of IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - (978-1-7281-0494-2)

11573/1416524 - 2018 - Transparent hole-collecting and buffer layers for heterojunction solar cells based on n-type-doped silicon
Menchini, F.; Serenelli, L.; Martini, L.; Izzi, M.; Stracci, G.; Mangiapane, P.; Salza, E.; Tucci, M. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: APPLIED PHYSICS. A, MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING (Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer) pp. - - issn: 0947-8396 - wos: WOS:000435333500003 (12) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85048543922 (11)

11573/1217000 - 2018 - Temperature effects on sputtered ITO
Menchini, F.; Serenelli, L.; Stracci, G.; Izzi, M.; Salza, E.; Caputo, D.; De Cesare, G.; Tucci, M. - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 7th IEEE World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 (WAIKOLOA, HAWAII)
libro: 2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 - A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC and 34th EU PVSEC - (9781538685297)

11573/1217013 - 2018 - Hydrogenated silicon sub-oxide film for an effective and thermal stable silicon surface passivation
Serenelli, Luca; Martini, Luca; Menchini, Francesca; Izzi, Massimo; Bobeico, Eugenia; Usatii, Iuri; Asquini, Rita; Caputo, Domenico; Cesare, Giampiero De; Veneri, Paola Delli; Tucci, Mario - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 7th IEEE World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 (WAIKOLOA, HAWAII)
libro: 2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, WCPEC 2018 - A Joint Conference of 45th IEEE PVSC, 28th PVSEC and 34th EU PVSEC - (9781538685297)

11573/1277053 - 2017 - Preparation and characterization of polymeric nanocomposite films for application as protective coatings
Gagliardi, S.; Rondino, F.; D'erme, Chiara; Persia, F.; Menchini, F.; Santarelli, M. L.; Paulke, B. -R.; A., L. Enayati; Falconieri, M. - 02a Capitolo o Articolo
libro: AIP Conference Proceedings 1873 - ()

11573/1151727 - 2017 - Comparison between a-SiOx:H and a-Si:H as passivation buffer layer for heterojunction solar cells
Martini, L.; Serenelli, L.; Menchini, F.; Izzi, M.; Asquini, R.; De Cesare, G.; Caputo, D.; Tucci, M. - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 33rd European PV Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
libro: Proceeding of 33rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition - (3-936338-47-7)

11573/972809 - 2017 - Comparison between a-SiOx:H and a-Si:H as Passivation Buffer Layer for Heterojunction Solar Cells
Martini, Luca; Serenelli, Luca; Menchini, Francesca; Izzi, Massimo; Asquini, Rita; Tucci, Mario - 04d Abstract in atti di convegno
congresso: 33nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC 2017) (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
libro: EU PVSEC Conference Proceedings - ()

11573/895688 - 2017 - Metastability of a-SiOx:H thin films for c-Si surface passivation
Serenelli, L.; Martini, Luca; Imbimbo, L.; Asquini, Rita; Menchini, F.; Izzi, M.; Tucci, M. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE (- Amsterdam: Elsevier - Amsterdam: North-Holland) pp. 430-440 - issn: 0169-4332 - wos: WOS:000389088300049 (8) - scopus: 2-s2.0-84992422449 (11)

11573/927314 - 2016 - Effect of the order-disorder transition on the optical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4
Valentini, M.; Malerba, C.; Menchini, F.; Tedeschi, Davide; Polimeni, Antonio; Capizzi, Mario; Mittiga, A. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS (New York: American Institute of Physics) pp. 211909- - issn: 0003-6951 - wos: WOS:000377024400022 (48) - scopus: 2-s2.0-84971278827 (46)

11573/360139 - 2009 - Thickness dependence of surface plasmon polariton dispersion in transparent conducting oxide films at 1.55μm
Michelotti, Francesco; Dominici, Lorenzo; Descrovi, E; Danz, N; Menchini, F. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: OPTICS LETTERS (Optical Society of America:2010 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest:Washington, DC 20036:(800)762-6960, (202)223-8130, EMAIL: custserv@osa.org, INTERNET: http://www.osa.org, Fax: (202)223-1096) pp. 839-841 - issn: 0146-9592 - wos: WOS:000264976200045 (99) - scopus: 2-s2.0-62549121576 (112)

11573/71794 - 2007 - Second order optical nonlinearity of ZnO/ZnO:Al bilayers deposited on glass by low temperature radio frequency sputtering
Michelotti, Francesco; Canali, R.; Dominici, Lorenzo; Belardini, Alessandro; Menchini, F.; Schoer, G.; Mueller, J. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS (New York: American Institute of Physics) pp. 181110-181112 - issn: 0003-6951 - wos: WOS:000246210000010 (4) - scopus: 2-s2.0-34247876196 (5)

11573/359058 - 2005 - Concentration dependence of the optical nonlinearity in extremely doped fluorinated organic copolymers
Belardini, Alessandro; Larciprete, Maria Cristina; Passeri, Daniele; Michelotti, Francesco; A., Ratsimihety; A., Rousseau; F., Menchini; E., Nichelatti - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS (American Institute of Physics:2 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 1NO1:Melville, NY 11747:(800)344-6902, (631)576-2287, EMAIL: subs@aip.org, INTERNET: http://www.aip.org, Fax: (516)349-9704) pp. 093521-1-093521-8 - issn: 0021-8979 - wos: WOS:000233304700032 (8) - scopus: 2-s2.0-27844508260 (8)

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