Shutterless deposition of phosphorous doped microcrystalline silicon by Cat-CVD

In this paper we present results on phosphorous-doped c-Si:H by catalytic chemical vapour deposition in a reactor which internal arrangement does not include a shutter. An incubation phase of around 20 nm seems to be the result of the uncontrolled conditions that take place during the first stages of deposition. The optimal deposition conditions found lead to a material with a dark conductivity of 12.8 S/cm, an activation energy of 0.026 eV and a crystalline fraction of 0.86. These values make the layers suitable to be implemented in solar cells.