Impact of dopant compensation on the deactivation of boron-oxygen recombination centers in crystalline silicon

The boron-oxygen recombination center responsible for the light-induced degradation of Czochralski silicon solar cells can be permanently deactivated by illumination at elevated temperature. In this study, we examine the impact of dopant compensation on the deactivation process. The experimental results show that the deactivation rate depends inversely on the total boron concentration instead of the net doping concentration, suggesting that boron is directly involved in the deactivation process. A linear dependence of the activation energy on the total boron concentration further supports this conclusion.Funding was provided by the State of Lower Saxony and the DAAD/Go8 Australia Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme