Impact of i-Layer Thickness on Band Alignments of a-Si:H Solar Cells: A Simulation Study Using SCAPS Software

Abstract

Energy band alignments regarding amorphous silicon solar cells are assessed using SCAPS-1D software both under illumination and in dark. We looked at how the thickness of the extrinsic and intrinsic layers affected the band bending as well as alignment of the energy bands, as well as how they affected solar cell performance. Several thicknesses of the intrinsic layer are used, starting from 10nm to 60nm, while the extrinsic layer's thickness stays fixed and symmetric in all devices (20nm, 30nm, 40nm, 50nm, 60nm, 70nm, and 80nm). The findings show promise for determining the PIN thickness for amorphous silicon-based flexible solar cells. Higher thicknesses are also used, and comparisons are introduced based on the band bending, Fermi level position, splitting, and depletion region width observed. The band bending has shown different behavior based on different PIN thicknesses. Solar cell results show independent behavior on the PIN thickness and the depletion region width. The device with a thickness of 180 nm (i = 80 nm, N = 50 nm, and P = 50 nm) and a JSC of 14.4mA/cm², open circuit voltage of 1.03 volts, an FF of 77.1%, and a PCE of 11.4% is shown to have the best performance. The performance of thicker PIN solar cells is obviously decreased