Prediction of the open-circuit voltage of solar cells from the steady-state photoconductance

Cuevas, Andrés; Sinton, Ronald A.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-159x(199703/04)5:2<79::aid-pip155>3.0.co;2-j

Cited by 130 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…If the surfaces have such high recombination velocities that recombination there is effectively instantaneous, and if the bulk minority carrier lifetime is sufficiently high (i.e., bulk lifetime larger than the transit time by at least two orders of magnitude will allow dopant density variations of less than 5% to be resolved) [2], then the effective minority carrier lifetime becomes equal to the transit time, defined as the average time required for generated carriers to diffuse to a surface, which for uniformly absorbed steady-state photogeneration is given by [5], [6] …”

Section: B Effective Minority Carrier Lifetimementioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Photoluminescence Imaging to Dopant and Carrier Concentration Measurements of Silicon Wafers

Lim

Forster²,

Zhang

et al. 2013

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Abstract-Photoluminescence-based imaging is most commonly used to measure the excess minority carrier density and its corresponding lifetime. By using appropriate surface treatments, this high-resolution imaging technique can also be used for majority carrier concentration determination. The mechanism involves effectively pinning the minority excess carrier density, resulting in a dependence of the photoluminescence intensity on only the majority carrier density. Three suitable surface preparation methods are introduced in this paper: aluminum sputtering, deionized water etching, and mechanical abrasion. Spatially resolved dopant density images determined using this technique are consistent with the images obtained by a well-established technique based on free carrier infrared emission. Three applications of the technique are also presented in this paper, which include imaging of oxygenrelated thermal donors, radial dopant density analysis, and the study of donor-related recombination active defects. These applications demonstrate the usefulness of the technique in characterizing silicon materials for photovoltaics.

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Section: B Effective Minority Carrier Lifetimementioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Photoluminescence Imaging to Dopant and Carrier Concentration Measurements of Silicon Wafers

Lim

Forster²,

Zhang

et al. 2013

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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“…The main issue is that, at highly-doped surfaces, S cannot be directly and precisely measured. A useful way has been to determine J 0,em by means of excess carrier lifetime measurements with the method of Kane and Swanson [94] and using refined photoconductance decay methods of Sinton and Cuevas [95][96][97][98]. These J 0 measurements are then reproduced with modeling.…”

Section: Impact From Carrier Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Models for numerical device simulations of crystalline silicon solar cells—a review

2011

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Current issues of numerical modeling of crystalline silicon solar cells are reviewed. Numerical modeling has been applied to Si solar cells since the early days of computer modeling and has recently become widely used in the photovoltaics (PV) industry. Simulations are used to analyze fabricated cells and to predict effects due to device changes. Hence, they may accelerate cell optimization and provide quantitative data e.g. of potentially possible improvements, which may form a base for the decision making on development strategies. However, to achieve sufficiently high prediction capabilities, several models had to be refined specifically to PV demands, such as the intrinsic carrier density, minority carrier mobility, recombination at passivated surfaces, and optical models. Currently, the most unresolved issue is the modeling of the emitter layer on textured surfaces, the hole minority carrier mobility, Auger recombination at low dopant densities and intermediate injection levels, and fine-tuned band parameters as a function of temperature. Also, it is recommended that the widely used software in the PV community, PC1D should be extended to FermiDirac statistics.

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“…However, it should also be kept in mind that samples with low effective lifetimes, whether because of either surface or bulk recombination, can easily result in nonuniform carrier profiles throughout the wafer thickness. In such cases, the transient lifetime and the quasistatic lifetime are not expected to be equal [9], [10]. The method that is described here can only be applied when these two lifetimes are equivalent, which will be the case when the carrier profiles remain approximately uniform during the transient decay.…”

Section: Theoretical Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Contactless Method for Determining the Carrier Mobility Sum in Silicon Wafers

Rougieux

Zheng

Thiboust

et al. 2012

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Abstract-In this paper, we present a new method to determine the simultaneous injection and temperature dependence of the sum of the majority and minority carrier mobilities in silicon wafers. The technique is based on combining transient and quasi-steadystate photoconductance measurements. It does not require a full device structure or contacting but only adequate surface passivation. The mobility dependence on both carrier injection level and temperature, as measured on several test samples, is discussed and compared with well-known mobility models. The potential of this method to measure the impact of dopant concentration, compensation ratio, injection level, and temperature on the mobility is demonstrated.

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Prediction of the open-circuit voltage of solar cells from the steady-state photoconductance

Cited by 130 publications

References 3 publications

Applications of Photoluminescence Imaging to Dopant and Carrier Concentration Measurements of Silicon Wafers

Applications of Photoluminescence Imaging to Dopant and Carrier Concentration Measurements of Silicon Wafers

Models for numerical device simulations of crystalline silicon solar cells—a review

A Contactless Method for Determining the Carrier Mobility Sum in Silicon Wafers

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