Photon Emission from Avalanche Breakdown in Silicon

Chynoweth, A. G.; McKay, K. G.

doi:10.1103/physrev.102.369

Cited by 467 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…EL under reverse bias (called in the following ReBEL), 13 on the other hand, relies on acceleration with subsequent scattering or recombination of carriers in high electric fields. The light emission has been attributed to hot carrier interband recombination 14 or relaxation 15 and shows a wide-band spectrum including contributions in the visible range. Bremsstrahlung 16 plays obviously only a minor role.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding junction breakdown in multicrystalline solar cells

Breitenstein

Bauer

Bothe

et al. 2011

Journal of Applied Physics

122

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Extensive investigations on industrial multicrystalline silicon solar cells have shown that, for standard 1 X cm material, acid-etched texturization, and in absence of strong ohmic shunts, there are three different types of breakdown appearing in different reverse bias ranges. Between À4 and À9 V there is early breakdown (type 1), which is due to Al contamination of the surface. Between À9 and À13 V defect-induced breakdown (type 2) dominates, which is due to metal-containing precipitates lying within recombination-active grain boundaries. Beyond À13 V we may find in addition avalanche breakdown (type 3) at etch pits, which is characterized by a steep slope of the I-V characteristic, avalanche carrier multiplication by impact ionization, and a negative temperature coefficient of the reverse current. If instead of acid-etching alkaline-etching is used, all these breakdown classes also appear, but their onset voltage is enlarged by several volts. Also for cells made from upgraded metallurgical grade material these classes can be distinguished. However, due to the higher net doping concentration of this material, their onset voltage is considerably reduced here.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding junction breakdown in multicrystalline solar cells

Breitenstein

Bauer

Bothe

et al. 2011

Journal of Applied Physics

122

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“…[3][4][5] As shown in Fig. 1 17,18 and internal field emission ͑IFE͒. 19 The causes of AB are high electric fields accelerating electrons.…”

Section: A Light Emission From Reverse-biased P-n Junctionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Luminescence emission from forward- and reverse-biased multicrystalline silicon solar cells

Bothe

Ramspeck

Hinken

et al. 2009

Journal of Applied Physics

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We study the emission of light from industrial multicrystalline silicon solar cells under forward and reverse biases. Camera-based luminescence imaging techniques and dark lock-in thermography are used to gain information about the spatial distribution and the energy dissipation at pre-breakdown sites frequently found in multicrystalline silicon solar cells. The pre-breakdown occurs at specific sites and is associated with an increase in temperature and the emission of visible light under reverse bias. Moreover, additional light emission is found in some regions in the subband-gap range between 1400 and 1700 nm under forward bias. Investigations of multicrystalline silicon solar cells with different interstitial oxygen concentrations and with an electron microscopic analysis suggest that the local light emission in these areas is directly related to clusters of oxygen.

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“…The breakdown mechanism of the point-like sites, which are marked by arrows in Figures 3c,d, is not clarified yet. Photon emission from reverse-biased silicon pn-junctions, 13 or from avalanche breakdowns 14 are possible explanations. Not all of the pre-breakdown sites are thus visible in reverse bias EL, which indicates that there are different types of pre-breakdown sites in silicon solar cells.…”

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confidence: 99%

On the detection of shunts in silicon solar cells by photo‐ and electroluminescence imaging

Breitenstein

Bauer

Trupke

et al. 2007

Progress in Photovoltaics

121

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Recently electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) imaging were reported to allow detection of strong ohmic shunts in silicon solar cells. Comparing lock-in thermography (LIT) images with luminescence images of various shunted cells, measured under different conditions, the ability of luminescence techniques for shunt detection is investigated. Luminescence imaging allows identifying ohmic shunts only if they reach a certain strength. The detection limit for PL measurements of linear shunts was estimated to be in the order of 15 mA at 0Á5 V bias for a point-like shunt in multicrystalline ( Electro-and photoluminescence (EL and PL) imaging have been introduced as very efficient techniques for spatially resolved characterization of silicon solar cells.1,2 Specifically the localization of strong ohmic shunts in industrial multicrystalline (mc) silicon cells via EL and PL imaging has recently been reported. 3,4,5,6 However, besides ohmic shunts, there are also other types of shunts, like non-linear shunts and prebreakdown sites.7 While ohmic shunts show a linear current-voltage (I-V) characteristic and usually also dominate under high reverse bias, the I-V characteristic of non-linear shunts is diode-like, with the higher conductivity in silicon cells always in forward bias direction. Non-linear shunts can be caused by strongly recombination-active defects crossing the pn-junction or by a direct contact of the grid metal to the base (Schottky-type shunts). These non-linear shunts are generally less harmful than ohmic shunts, but they also degrade the fill factor and the low light level performance of solar cells.8 Pre-breakdown sites show no or only a weak conductivity under low forward and reverse bias, but a strongly increasing conductivity for higher reverse bias above À5 V typically. They are avalanche breakdown sites, caused by defects crossing the pn-junction or other reasons of local high fields. If these pre-breakdown sites show currents of several amperes at reverse voltage of À13

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Photon Emission from Avalanche Breakdown in Silicon

Cited by 467 publications

References 4 publications

Understanding junction breakdown in multicrystalline solar cells

Understanding junction breakdown in multicrystalline solar cells

Luminescence emission from forward- and reverse-biased multicrystalline silicon solar cells

On the detection of shunts in silicon solar cells by photo‐ and electroluminescence imaging

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