Mapping the local photoelectronic properties of polycrystalline solar cells through high resolution laser-beam-induced current microscopy

IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Volumn 4, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 311-316

  Leite, Marina S ^a,b   Abashin, Maxim ^a,b   Lezec, Henri J ^a   Gianfrancesco, Anthony G ^a   Talin, A Alec ^a,c   Zhitenev, Nikolai B ^a  

^a NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND   (United States)

^c SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES   (United States)

Author keywords

Cadmium compounds; current measurement; grain boundaries (GBs); photovoltaic (PV) cells; scanning probe microscopy; thin film devices; wavelength measurement

Indexed keywords

HIGH RESOLUTION; LASER-BEAM-INDUCED CURRENTS; MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION; NANOSCALE RESOLUTIONS; PHOTOELECTRONIC PROPERTIES; PHOTOVOLTAIC; POLYCRYSTALLINE SOLAR CELLS; WAVELENGTH MEASUREMENT;

CADMIUM COMPOUNDS; ELECTRIC CURRENT MEASUREMENT; ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES; GRAIN BOUNDARIES; SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY; SOLAR CELLS; THIN FILM DEVICES;

POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS;

EID: 84891558853     PISSN: 21563381     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2284860     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. A. L. a. S.Hegedus, Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, vol. 1, 2nd ed. New York, NY, USA: Wiley, 2011.
2. I. Visoly-Fisher, S. R. Cohen, K. Gartsman, A. Ruzin, and D. Cahen, "Understanding the beneficial role of grain boundaries in polycrystalline solar cells from single-grain-boundary scanning probe microscopy," Adv. Functional Mater., vol. 16, pp. 649-660, Mar. 2006.
3. I. Visoly-Fisher, S. R. Cohen, A. Ruzin, and D. Cahen, "How polycrystalline devices can outperform single-crystal ones: Thin film CdTe/CdS solar cells," Adv. Mater., vol. 16, pp. 879-883, Jun. 2004.
4. K. Durose, S. E. Asher, W. Jaegermann, D. Levi, B. E. McCandless, W. Metzger, H. Moutinho, P. D. Paulson, C. L. Perkins, J. R. Sites, G. Teeter, and M. Terheggen, "Physical characterization of thin-film solar cells," Progr. Photovolt., vol. 12, pp. 177-217, Mar.-May 2004. (Pubitemid 38464404)
5. K. L. Chopra, P. D. Paulson, and V. Dutta, "Thin-film solar cells: An overview," Progr. Photovolt., vol. 12, pp. 69-92, Mar.-May 2004. (Pubitemid 38460410)
6. M. K. Herndon, A. Gupta, V. Kaydanov, and R. T. Collins, "Evidence for grain-boundary-assisted diffusion of sulfur in polycrystalline CdS/CdTe heterojunctions," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 75, pp. 3503-3505, Nov. 1999. (Pubitemid 129564694)
7. A. A. McDaniel, J. W. P. Hsu, and A. M. Gabor, "Near-field scanning optical microscopy studies of Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 solar cells," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 70, pp. 3555-3557, Jun. 1997. (Pubitemid 127637254)
8. M. A.Green,K. Emery,Y.Hishikawa,W.Warta, and E. D.Dunlop, "Solar cell efficiency tables (ver. 41)," Progr. Photovolt., vol. 21, pp. 1-11, Jan. 2013.
9. P. K. Nayak, J. Bisquert, and D. Cahen, "Assessing possibilities and limits for solar cells," Adv. Mater., vol. 23, pp. 2870-2876, Jul. 2011.
10. Online. Available: http://www.pv-tech.org
11. H. R. Moutinho, R. G. Dhere, C. S. Jiang, M. M. Al-Jassim, and L. L. Kazmerski, "Electrical properties of CdTe/CdS solar cells investigated with conductive atomic force microscopy," Thin Solid Films, vol. 514, pp. 150-155, Aug. 2006. (Pubitemid 44015860)
12. H. R. Moutinho, R. G. Dhere, C. S. Jiang, Y. F. Yan, D. S. Albin, and M. M. Al-Jassim, "Investigation of potential and electric field profiles in cross sections of CdTe/CdS solar cells using scanning Kelvin probe microscopy," J. Appl. Phys., vol. 108, pp. 074503-1-074503-7, Oct. 2010.
13. C. Ballif, H. R. Moutinho, and M. M. Al-Jassim, "Cross-sectional electrostatic force microscopy of thin-film solar cells," J. Appl. Phys., vol. 89, pp. 1418-1424, Jan. 2001. (Pubitemid 33661905)
14. I. Visoly-Fisher, S. R. Cohen, and D. Cahen, "Direct evidence for grainboundary depletion in polycrystalline CdTe from nanoscale-resolved measurements," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 82, pp. 556-558, Jan. 2003.
15. R. Baier, C. Leendertz, M. C. Lux-Steiner, and S. Sadewasser, "Toward quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy of nanoscale potential distributions," Phys. Rev. B, vol. 85, pp. 165436-1-165436-6, Apr. 2012.
16. M. Hafemeister, S. Siebentritt, J. Albert, M. C. Lux-Steiner, and S. Sadewasser, "Large neutral barrier at grain boundaries in chalcopyrite thin films," Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 104, pp. 196602-1-196602-4, May 2010.
17. S. Sadewasser, D. Abou-Ras, D. Azulay, R. Baier, I. Balberg, D. Cahen, S. Cohen, K. Gartsman, K. Ganesan, J. Kavalakkatt, W. Li, O. Millo, T. Rissom, Y. Rosenwaks, H. W. Schock, A. Schwarzman, and T. Unold, "Nanometer-scale electronic and microstructural properties of grain boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se-2," Thin Solid Films, vol. 519, pp. 7341-7346, Aug. 2011.
18. S. S. Schmidt, D. Abou-Ras, S. Sadewasser, W. J. Yin, C. B. Feng, and Y. F. Yan, "Electrostatic potentials at Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 grain boundaries: Experiment and simulations," Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 109, pp. 095506-1-095506-5, Aug. 2012.
19. B. Rezek, C. E. Nebel, and M. Stutzmann, "Laser beam induced currents in polycrystalline silicon thin films prepared by interference laser crystallization," J. Appl. Phys., vol. 91, pp. 4220-4228, Apr. 2002.
20. S. A. Galloway, P. R. Edwards, and K. Durose, "Characterisation of thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells using electron and optical beam induced current," Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells, vol. 57, pp. 61-74, Feb. 1999. (Pubitemid 129664890)
21. C. R. McNeill, H. Frohne, J. L. Holdsworth, and P. C. Dastoor, "Nearfield scanning photocurrent measurements of polyfluorene blend devices: Directly correlating morphology with current generation," Nano Lett., vol. 4, pp. 2503-2507, Dec. 2004. (Pubitemid 40002393)
22. H. P.Yoon, P. M. Haney, D. Ruzmetov, H. Xu,M. S. Leite, B. H. Hamadani, A. A. Talin, and N. B. Zhitenev, "Local electrical characterization of cadmium telluride solar cells using low-energy electron beam," Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells, vol. 117, pp. 499-504, Aug. 2013.
23. O. Cojocaru-Miredin, P. Choi, R.Wuerz, and D. Raabe, "Exploring the p-n junction region in Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 thin-film solar cells at the nanometerscale," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 101, pp. 181603-1-181603-5, Oct. 2012.
24. C. Donolato, "Evaluation of diffusion lengths and surface recombination velocities from electron-beam induced current scans," Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 43, pp. 120-122, 1983.