Photoluminescence imaging of thin film silicon on glass

Photoluminescence (PL) imaging over a large area (4.5×4.5cm2) is demonstrated on polycrystalline silicon thin films and solar cells on glass. PL imaging is a well-established technique for characterisation of silicon wafers and wafer-based solar cells, however its application to crystalline silicon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy materials and solar cells 2014-11, Vol.130, p.1-5
Main Authors: Teal, Anthony, Dore, Jonathon, Varlamov, Sergey
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Crystal structure
Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation
Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering
Electrical power engineering
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Glass
Imaging
Liquid phase crystallisation
Natural energy
Photoelectric conversion
Photoluminescence imaging
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaic conversion
Photovoltaics
Silicon films
Silicon substrates
Solar cells
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Thin film Si on glass
Thin films
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Summary:Photoluminescence (PL) imaging over a large area (4.5×4.5cm2) is demonstrated on polycrystalline silicon thin films and solar cells on glass. PL imaging is a well-established technique for characterisation of silicon wafers and wafer-based solar cells, however its application to crystalline silicon thin films on glass was not possible due to low material quality and volume, and IR noise from the glass substrate. This paper reports methods to overcome these limitations, the design of a thin-film silicon PL imaging system, examples of PL images of silicon films at different processing stages and preliminary findings. It is demonstrated that the observed PL images qualitatively correlate with the silicon film crystal grain structure and quality. •PL imaging is used to quantitatively characterise non-uniformity of LPCSG material.•PL image intensity is found to be excitation wavelength dependent.•Design and construction of PL imaging system for thin film Silicon on glass.•Area of dense grain boundaries is found to correlate with areas of low PL Intensity.
ISSN:0927-0248
1879-3398
DOI:10.1016/j.solmat.2014.06.024