One-step fabrication of inverted pyramid textured silicon wafers via silver-assisted chemical etching combing with synergism of polyvinylpyrrolidone (Pvp)

Abstract

Inverted pyramid-texturing of silicon surface has been proven to have great application potential in silicon solar cells. In this paper, we utilized Ag-assisted chemical etching (Ag–ACE) technology combing with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to fabricate an inverted pyramid textured Si surface. We call it Ag@PVP–ACE. The effect of different experimental parameters on etching results was observed. We show that the microstructure of the Si surface exhibited two states as the concentration of NH4HF2 and PVP concentration changed: polishing and inverted pyramid texturing. Meanwhile, we found inverted pyramids easier to form at the high temperature and low H2O2 concentration of the etching system. Consequently, compared to inverted pyramid structures fabricated by nanostructure rebuilding (NSR) technology and Ag@PVP–ACE, we consider that Ag@PVP–ACE technology could become a viable strategy for fabricating inverted pyramid textured Si wafers in Si solar cells production.