Photoluminescence studies of a-Si:H/c-Si-heterojunction solar cells

Numerical modelling as a tool for understanding room temperature photoluminescence in a‐Si:H/c‐Si heterojunction solar cells

“…Photoluminescence yields (Y pl ) were deduced from the local band-toband recombination rates, thus taking into account the spatial profile of the quasi-Fermi level splitting and an appropriate multi-layer optics formulation for the propagation and coupling-out of photons. By numerical simulation with our program and a comparable approach [11] qualitative and quantitative agreement with numerous experimental results of a-Si:H/c-Si diodes has been achieved [11][12][13][14].…”

“…These numerically calculated luminescence yields are to be compared to experimentally detected photoluminescence signals and by the fit to them, parameters such as bulk minority lifetimes, surface recombination velocities, or even interface defect densities can be derived [14,15]. 1.8…”

Characterization of the interface properties in a-Si : H/c-Si heterostructures by photoluminescence

“…A prerequisite to a high efficiency a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction is a high quality amorphous/crystalline interface, as otherwise the solar cell properties are limited by recombination at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Characterisation techniques, such as photoluminesence (PL) measurements, may be applied to study the influence of the interface defects on the minority carrier density in the volume of the cell [6,7].…”

Modulated photoluminescence studies for lifetime determination in amorphous-silicon passivated crystalline-silicon wafers

“…Efficient hydrogenated amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)/crystalline-silicon (c-Si) heterojunction solar cells require a low density of interface defects [1][2][3] because even moderate interface defect densities reduce the open-circuit voltage. Efficient passivation of interface defects is thus crucial for efficient a-Si:H/c-Si solar cells.…”

“…Steady-state or time-dependent photoluminescence have been applied to study wafer passivation and lifetimes in crystalline silicon [3][4][5]. In this paper we apply room-temperature modulated photoluminescence (MPL) measurements to study the influence of interface defects on the recombination of excess carriers in wafers with different passivation schemes.…”