p-type Tunnel Oxide Passivating Contacts (TOPCon) solar cell is fabricated with a poly-Si/SiO_x structure. It simultaneously achieves surface passivation and enhances the carriers’ selective collection, which is a promising technology for conventional solar cells. The quality of passivation is depended on the quality of the tunnel oxide layer at the interface with the c-Si wafer, which is affected by the bond of SiO formed during the subsequent annealing process. The highest cell efficiency reported to date for the laboratory scale has increased to 26.1%, fabricated by the Institute for Solar Energy Research. The cells used a p-type float zone silicon with an interdigitated back contact (IBC) structure that fabricates poly-Si and SiO_x layer achieves the highest implied open-circuit voltage (iV_oc) is 750 mV, and the highest level of edge passivation is 40%. This review presents an overview of p-type TOPCon technologies, including the ultra-thin silicon oxide layer (SiO_x) and poly-silicon layer (poly-Si), as well as the advancement of the SiO_x and poly-Si layers. Subsequently, the limitations of improving efficiency are discussed in detail. Consequently, it is expected to provide a basis for the simplification of industrial mass production.

Grain boundaries play a major role in determining device performance, particularly of polysilicon-based photodetectors. Through the post-annealing of as-deposited polysilicon and then, the analysis of electric behavior for a metal-polysilicon-metal (MSM) photodetector, we were able to identify the influence of grain boundaries. A modified model of polysilicon grain boundaries in the MSM structure is presented, which uses a crystalline-interfacial layer-SiO_x layer- interfacial layer-crystalline system that is similar to the Si-SiO₂ system in MOS device. Hydrogen passivation was achieved through a hydrogen ion implantation process and was used to passivate the defects at both interfacial layers. The thin SiO_x layer at the grain boundary can enhance the photosensitivity of an MSM photodetector by decreasing the dark current and increasing the light absorption.

A polysilicon-based metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector was fabricated by means of our new methods. Its photoresponse characteristics were analyzed to see if it could be applied to a sensor system. The processes on which this study focused were an alloy-annealing process to form metal-polysilicon contacts, a post-annealing process for better light absorption of as-deposited polysilicon, and a passivation process for lowering defect density in polysilicon. When the alloy annealing was achieved at about 400℃, metal-polysilicon Schottky contacts sustained a stable potential barrier, decreasing the dark current. For better surface morphology of polysilicon, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) or furnace annealing at around 900℃ was suitable as a post-annealing process, because it supplied polysilicon layers with a smoother surface and a proper grain size for photon absorption. For the passivation of defects in polysilicon, hydrogen-ion implantation was chosen, because it is easy to implant hydrogen into the polysilicon. MSM photodetectors based on the suggested processes showed a higher sensitivity for photocurrent detection and a stable Schottky contact barrier to lower the dark current and are therefore applicable to sensor systems.