We have proposed a method to evaluate minority carrier lifetime through photovoltage measurements by photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy and have applied it to characterize a polycrystalline silicon solar cell. The results indicate that the lifetime significantly decreases in the vicinity of a grain boundary of the polycrystalline material. The photovoltage distribution around the grain boundary is also discussed by considering a contribution of both the intrinsic surface potential and the lifetime.
The photovoltage on a polycrystalline silicon solar cell has been investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KFM) under light illumination. In our KFM system, a piezoresistive cantilever and a new feedback method for potential determination were adopted to realize an accurate measurement of potential under both dark condition and light illumination. As a result, we observed a photovoltage drop around the grain boundary and a slight difference in photovoltage between two different grains on the polycrystalline silicon solar cell.
Minority carrier lifetime in polycrystalline silicon solar cells studied by photoassisted Kelvin probe force microscopy Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 021902 (2008); 10.1063/1.2957468 Effect of dislocations on minority carrier diffusion length in practical silicon solar cells
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