Emitter saturation current densities (JOe) of phosphorus-diffused planar c-Si solar cell emitters passivated by silicon carbide (SiCx) layers have been determined in a wide sheet resistance range (20–500O/sq). Phosphorus diffusions were performed using solid planar diffusion sources without employing any drive-in step. Stacks of two SiCx layers were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition: first a thin silicon rich layer with excellent passivating properties and then an antireflective carbon rich layer. The thickness of the passivating layer was optimized, reaching a trade-off between the better passivation achieved for thicker layers and the increased light absorption within the layer, which reduced the photocurrent. The surface recombination velocity and the optical losses were determined for each configuration and used to calculate photovoltaic conversion efficiency limits for 50 and 90O/sq emitters. In both cases, optimum configuration is for the stacks with passivating layers that are about 8nm thick.

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