SILICON THIN FILM, PHOTOVOLTAIC ELEMENT, FORMATION OF SILICON THIN FILM AND PRODUCTION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC ELEMENT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a practically satisfiable film-forming speed and improve a photoelectric conversion characteristic by including a specific amount of phosphorus atom and setting the X-ray or electron ray diffraction intensity of (220) plane to be a specific ratio to the total diffraction intensity. SOLUTION: This silicon thin film contains 1-100 ppm of phosphorus atom and the diffraction intensity of the (220) plane of the film by X-ray or electron ray diffraction is >=30% based on the total diffraction intensity. Especially in the case of a photovoltaic element produced by successively laminating an n-type, an i-type and a p-type silicon semiconductor layers, the i-type silicon semiconductor layer acting as a light-absorbing layer preferably contains the silicon thin film. The silicon thin film and the semiconductor layers in the photovoltaic element are preferably formed by CVD process using high-frequency having a frequency of 10 MHz to 10 GHz. The concentration of phosphorus atom in the silicon thin film of the photovoltaic element preferably increases toward the side of the electrically conductive substrate.