Recent Developments in the use of the Tripod Polisher for TEM Specimen Preparation

Benedict, J.; Anderson, Ron; Klepeis, Stanley J.

doi:10.1557/proc-254-121

Cited by 87 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…Solar cell samples for TEM can be prepared by ion milling [27], wet polishing (tripod method) [24], or focused ion beam (FIB) [28]. Nevertheless, preparation for TEM samples is complex and time consuming.…”

Section: Sample Fabrication Characterization and Methods For Countinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With this method, SEM is sufficient for observation. The procedure is inspired from the TEM sample preparation with tripod from Benedict et al [24] and is called: ''1 face polishing.'' -First, a ''sandwich'' is prepared by cutting the solar cell in two pieces of 2 Â 10 mm 2 and gluing them in front of each order with epoxy glue.…”

Section: Sample Fabrication Characterization and Methods For Countinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method, which is presented here, avoids the complex preparation for transmission electron microscope (TEM) samples [24]. Moreover, the observable area is 4000 mm wide instead of 40-50 mm for a standard TEM sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microcrystalline silicon solar cells: effect of substrate temperature on cracks and their role in post‐oxidation

Python

Dominé

Söderström

et al. 2010

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Microcrystalline silicon (mc-Si:H) cells can reach efficiencies up to typically 10% and are usually incorporated in tandem micromorph devices. When cells are grown on rough substrates, ''cracks'' can appear in the mc-Si:H layers. Previous works have demonstrated that these cracks have mainly detrimental effects on the fill factor and open-circuit voltage, and act as bad diodes with a high reverse saturation current. In this paper, we clarify the nature of the cracks, their role in postoxidation processes, and indicate how their density can be reduced. Regular secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and local nano-SIMS measurements show that these cracks are prone to local post-oxidation and lead to apparent high oxygen content in the layer. Usually the number of cracks can be decreased with an appropriate modification of the substrate surface morphology, but then, the required light scattering effect is reduced due to a lower roughness. This study presents an alternative/complementary way to decrease the crack density by increasing the substrate temperature during deposition. These results, also obtained when performing numerical simulation of the growth process, are attributed to the enhanced surface diffusion of the adatoms at higher deposition temperature. We evaluate the cracks density by introducing a fast method to count cracks with good statistics over approximately 4000 mm of sample cross-section. This method is proven to be useful to quickly visualize the impact of substrate morphology on the density of cracks in microcrystalline and in micromorph devices, which is an important issue in the manufacturing process of modules.

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Section: Sample Fabrication Characterization and Methods For Countinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sample Fabrication Characterization and Methods For Countinmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microcrystalline silicon solar cells: effect of substrate temperature on cracks and their role in post‐oxidation

Python

Dominé

Söderström

et al. 2010

Progress in Photovoltaics

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“…A few samples from the series of nip cells described above were prepared as crosssection [8,10] for TEM observation on a Philips CM200 microscope operated at 200 kV.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between Raman crystallinity and open-circuit voltage in microcrystalline silicon solar cells

Droz

Vallat-Sauvain

Bailat

et al. 2004

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

199

103

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A series of nip-type microcrystalline silicon (mc-Si:H) single-junction solar cells has been studied by electrical characterisation, by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and by Raman spectroscopy using 514 and 633 nm excitation light and both top-and bottomillumination. Thereby, a Raman crystallinity factor indicative of crystalline volume fraction is introduced and applied to the interface regions, i.e. to the mixed amorphous-microcrystalline layers at the top and at the bottom of entire cells. Results are compared with TEM observations for one of the solar cells. Similar Raman and electrical investigations have been conducted also on pin-type mc-Si:H single-junction solar cells. Experimental data show that for all nip and pin mc-Si:H solar cells, the open-circuit voltage linearly decreases as the average of the Raman crystallinity factors for top and bottom interface regions increases.

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“…Cross-section TEM samples were prepared by the mechanical tripod polisher method 14 in order to obtain large areas transparent to the electron beam. TEM measurements and selected area diffraction revealed the presence of Fe͑110͒ oriented islands that presented three in-plane equivalent azimuthal orientations ͓͑110͔Fe ʈ ͗1120͘Al 2 O 3 ͒ as expected from the symmetry of the substrate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interface alloying effects in the magnetic properties of Fe nanoislands capped with different materials

et al. 2008

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We show that Fe nanoislands capped with Al, Pd, and Pt protecting layers include an alloy at the interface with the capping layer, which explains the previously known capping layer dependence on the interparticle magnetic coupling. Vibrating sample magnetometry results, for instance, are evidencing a reduction in the magnetization measured under a magnetic field of 15 mT, which is larger in the case of the Al capping and which is due to the presence of a magnetically dead interface alloy. This reduction is also observed at the atomic level using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements, showing a capping layer dependence of the Fe magnetic-moment reduction that is similar for the Pd and Pt capping, and stronger for the Al capping. The trend in the magnetic properties as a function of the capping layer is explained in the light of x-ray photoemission spectroscopy results that evidence the formation of alloys at the interface between the Fe nanoislands and the capping layers. The present results highlight the strong influence of interface alloying in systems of reduced dimensionality. In particular, it is shown that the magnetic properties are strongly affected at both the atomic and macroscopic level.

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Recent Developments in the use of the Tripod Polisher for TEM Specimen Preparation

Cited by 87 publications

References 0 publications

Microcrystalline silicon solar cells: effect of substrate temperature on cracks and their role in post‐oxidation

Microcrystalline silicon solar cells: effect of substrate temperature on cracks and their role in post‐oxidation

Relationship between Raman crystallinity and open-circuit voltage in microcrystalline silicon solar cells

Interface alloying effects in the magnetic properties of Fe nanoislands capped with different materials

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