Time-resolved photoluminescence for self-calibrated injection-dependent minority carrier lifetime measurements in silicon

Parola, S.; Daanoune, Mehdi; Kaminski‐Cachopo, Anne; Lemiti, M.; Blanc-Pélissier, D.

doi:10.1088/0022-3727/48/3/035102

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…PL decay in silicon wafer reflects the dynamics of minority carrier recombination and could be used for lifetime values determination . PL decay curves were measured with a fixed laser power density of 70 mW cm −2 for all samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…PL decay in silicon wafer reflects the dynamics of minority carrier recombination and could be used for lifetime values determination. [31][32][33][34] PL decay curves were measured with a fixed laser power density of 70 mW cm À2 for all samples. According to our calculations, the excess charge carrier concentration is expected to be in the region of 10 13 -10 14 cm À3 for the used laser power density.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Cryogenic Dry Etching on Minority Charge Carrier Lifetime in Silicon

Kudryashov

Gudovskikh

Baranov

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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Micro‐ and nanostructured silicon surface application is a promising way of photovoltaic development. An enhancement of optical absorption in solar cells can be achieved, for example, using vertically aligned silicon nanostructures with high aspect ratios. Cryogenic plasma etching is a suitable method for such structures' formation; however, there is still lack of data describing an effect of cryogenic inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching on defect formation in silicon (Si). The defects may act as recombination centers, leading to solar cell characteristics degradation. Herein, the cryogenic dry etching effects on defect formation in float‐zone (FZ) n‐type silicon substrates and on the photovoltaic properties of solar cells made of plasma‐etched silicon substrate are presented. The decrease in low‐injection minority carrier lifetime in silicon from 0.85 to 0.55 ms is observed by photoluminescence decay after the ICP dry etching at −140 °C. This leads to an open‐circuit voltage drop for the (p)a‐Si:H/(n)c‐Si/(n)a‐Si:H heterojunction structure from 680 to 630 mV. A detailed study of the defect properties by deep‐level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), numerical simulation, and its behavior after wet etching and thermal annealing is presented.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Cryogenic Dry Etching on Minority Charge Carrier Lifetime in Silicon

Kudryashov

Gudovskikh

Baranov

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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“…Minority carrier lifetime can be measured by timeresolved photoluminescence (TRPL) that records the time evolution of the excess carrier concentration generated by a pulsed optical excitation. A time-correlated single photon counting system (TCSPC) was developed for the measurement of TRPL in silicon at room temperature [6].…”

Section: Evaluation Of the Laser-induced Damage By Time-resolved Photmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has also been shown that room temperature PL spectroscopy was a sensitive technique to evaluate qualitatively the laser-induced damage after ablation of SiNx on silicon [5]. Recently, we have demonstrated that time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measured by time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) was well suited to extract the minority carrier effective lifetime in silicon [6]. It is a room temperature technique whose spatial resolution is limited by the dimension of the laser beam.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time-resolved photoluminescence for evaluating laser-induced damage during dielectric stack ablation in silicon solar cells

Parola

Blanc-Pélissier

Barbos

et al. 2016

Applied Surface Science

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Selective laser ablation of dielectric layers on crystalline silicon wafers was investigated for solar cell fabrication. Laser processing was performed on Al2O3, and bi-layers Al2O3/SiNX:H with a nanosecond UV laser at various energy densities ranging from 0.4 to 2 J.cm-2. Ablation threshold was correlated to the simulated temperature at the interface between the dielectric coatings and the silicon substrate. Laser-induced damage to the silicon substrate was evaluated by time-resolved photoluminescence. The minority carrier lifetime deduced from time-resolved photoluminescence was related to the depth of the heat affected zone in the substrate.

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“…In this study, we correlate luminescence spreading under partial illumination with carrier kinetics measured by time‐resolved microwave photoconductance decay (μPCD). While μPCD and time‐resolved photoluminescence (trPL) are popular methods for direct measurement of carrier kinetics in photovoltaic materials, both techniques are most often designed to measure lifetimes within an area photoexcited by the laser pulse without explicit consideration of carrier drift away from the photoexcitation into the nonilluminated cell regions. As we further discuss in this study, the transients measured on fully fabricated device structures with conductive layers, such as an emitter or electrodes, are likely affected by factors, such as the cell's resistance, capacitance, and area.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging Lateral Drift Kinetics to Understand Causes of Outdoor Degradation in Silicon Heterojunction Photovoltaic Modules

2019

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Lateral drift currents caused by partial or patterned illumination of photovoltaic cells have important implications for laser‐based screening methods and luminescence imaging of fielded and lab‐stressed modules. This study investigates the kinetics of carrier drift and bulk recombination following patterned illumination in commercial silicon heterojunctions with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) modules, comparing the kinetics between a ten‐year field‐weathered module versus a control module that is stored indoors. The measurement of the microwave photoconductance decay (μPCD) transients in the modules, both coincident with the photoexcitation and in nonilluminated cell regions, reveals carrier drift on the 100 μs timescale, followed by millisecond bulk lifetimes. Importantly, the μPCD transients are consistent with luminescence spreading over the cell, which is imaged using a time‐gated InGaAs array camera. The weathered HIT module shows slower lateral drift and faster bulk lifetimes compared with the control, suggesting increased series resistance and accelerated nonradiative recombination in this module, attributable to degradation of the transparent conductive oxide and degradation of the passivation layer, respectively. These results provide a novel example of using time‐resolved measurements directly on full photovoltaic modules to reveal causes of degradation, providing insight for further development of module imaging and screening capabilities.

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Time-resolved photoluminescence for self-calibrated injection-dependent minority carrier lifetime measurements in silicon

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Effect of Cryogenic Dry Etching on Minority Charge Carrier Lifetime in Silicon

Effect of Cryogenic Dry Etching on Minority Charge Carrier Lifetime in Silicon

Time-resolved photoluminescence for evaluating laser-induced damage during dielectric stack ablation in silicon solar cells

Imaging Lateral Drift Kinetics to Understand Causes of Outdoor Degradation in Silicon Heterojunction Photovoltaic Modules

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