Sub-micron silicon structures for thin film solar cells

The realization of a lateral structured thin solar cell based on silicon is introduced and advantages such as increased internal electric fields, light diffraction into the bulk of the absorber, and improved light trapping are discussed. The key process for the realization of such a solar cell is the interference laser recrystallization of amorphous silicon which has been applied to produce stripe, grid, and dot arrays. The experimental set-up of the laser recrystallization is presented, and a detailed description of electronic properties of laser recrystallized, boron doped silicon films is given.