TCAD SIMULATION STUDY OF CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELL AND RELIABILITY OF NANOWIRE FET

Abstract

Photovoltaics' has gained importance with the failure of conventional energy resources to meet the energy requirements of various sectors. Crystalline silicon dominates the photovoltaic market today primarily due to its low cost. This work demonstrates a comprehensive study of a single junction two dimensional crystalline silicon solar cell through simulations carried out in Synopsys TCAD Sentaurus version 2007.12. Using the Transfer Matrix Method of the Sentaurus device simulator, the optical and electrical characteristics of the solar cell are simulated. Reflectance and quantum efficiency spectra, as well as dark and light current density-voltage (J-V) curves are calculated. A planar two dimensional silicon structure was used in the setup. The performance of the cell is studied considering various solar cell design parameters like cell thickness, doping of base and emitter, emitter thickness, front contact grid pattern and the design trade-offs are clearly defined. Silicon nanowire based MOS devices are putting a strong claim as the solution to the scaling constraints on planar MOSFETS due to their strong gate electrostatic control over the channel. A study on the gate oxide reliability of these nanowires is carried out to determine the lifetime of these devices. A quantitative study supported with experimental data is shown to determine the hot carrier degradation on these nanowires