Method of making silicon solar cells containing μC silicon layers

A method of making a solar cell having an a-Si:H/μc-Si:H layer sequence with the help of a PECVD method, the method comprising the steps of:

• depositing all layers of the amorphous and microcrystalline solar cell on a substrate using a single-chamber process having the following process parameters for the μc-Si:H absorber layer (i-layer),
• an electrode spacing between 5 and 15 mm,
• a gas distribution taking place via a showerhead gas inlet that ensures a homogeneous distribution of the gas across the substrate,
• an SiH4 gas flow between 0.01 and 3 sccm/cm2,
• a process pressure between 3 and 50 hPa,
• a heater temperature for the substrate between 50 and 280° C., and
• an HF output set to between 0.2 and 2 Watt/cm2, and
• depositing the i-layer of the microcrystalline cell on a doped p-layer, deposited on the substrate, while avoiding boron cross contamination from the p-layer to the i-layer, whereby the high efficiency of a known multi-chamber process using a high deposition pressure and a high HF output level is achieved.