Physics-Informed AI for Laser-Enhanced Contact Optimization in Silicon PV: Electrothermal Activation, Degradation Regimes, and Process Control

Abstract: Laser-enhanced contact optimization (LECO) is increasingly used method to reduce contact resistance and recover fill factor in advanced crystalline silicon solar cells. However, the industrial transferability is limited because the same localized activation that improves carrier transport can also create kinetically unstable interface states. LECO can be viewed as a coupled Multiphysics process that links microstructural evidence to device-level signature that uses instantaneous regime map together with a reliability classification based on time-dependent drift. Thus, a predictive workflow is outlined in the review that couples (i) transient electrothermal modeling to reduced state metrics, (ii) effective diffusion depth and local areal energy density, and (iii) propagated calibrated thresholds across recipe space. The framework separates stable optimization from marginal activation and latent damage and explains why fine-line scaling and copper-containing stacks tighten stability margins through current localization and diffusion-barrier constraints. It sum up the next generation AI guided optimization digital twin.