Thin crystalline macroporous silicon solar cells with ion implanted emitter

We separate a (34 +/- 2) mu m-thick macroporous Si layer from an n-type Si wafer by means of electrochemical etching. The porosity is p = (26.2 +/- 2.4) %. We use ion implantation to selectively dope the outer surfaces of the macroporous Si layer. No masking of the surface is required. The pores are open during the implantation process. We fabricate a macroporous Si solar cell with an implanted boron emitter at the front side and an implanted phosphorus region at the rear side. The short-circuit current density is 34.8 mA cm(-2) and the open-circuit voltage is 562 mV. With a fill factor of 69.1 % the cell achieves an energy-conversion efficiency of 13.5 %. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.