The influence of chemical pretreatment on the passivation efficiency of textured silicon wafers

The influence of the chemical surface pretreatment by the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and modified Shiraki methods prior to passivating with a layer of amorphous hydrogenated silicon on the effective charge-carrier lifetime was investigated. The effect was studied on silicon wafers textured by various etching methods, including inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching and wet etching. The preference of the modified Shiraki method was demonstrated. The maximum achieved value of the effective carrier lifetime for wafers textured by reactive ion etching with inductively coupled plasma was 400 $\mu$s, while that for wafers textured by the combined wet/RIE method was 500 $\mu$s.