Geissbühler, JonasDe Wolf, StefaanDemaurex, BénédicteSeif, Johannes PeterAlexander, DuncanBarraud, LorisBallif, Christophe2013-06-182013-06-18201310.1063/1.4811253https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/92836WOS:000320622600027Excellent amorphous/crystalline silicon interface passivation is of extreme importance for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells. This can be obtained by inserting hydrogen-plasma treatments during deposition of the amorphous silicon passivation layers. Prolonged hydrogen-plasmas lead to film etching. We report on the defect creation induced by such treatments: A severe drop in interface-passivation quality is observed when films are etched to a thickness of less than 8 nm. Detailed characterization shows that this decay is due to persistent defects created at the crystalline silicon surface. Pristine interfaces are preserved when the post-etching film thickness exceeds 8 nm, yielding high quality interface passivation. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.Silicon Heterojunction solar cellamorphous silicon passivationtext::journal::journal article::research article