Analysis of light propagation in thin-film solar cells by dual-probe scanning near-field optical microscopy

Author

Lehnen, Stephan ; Paetzold, Ulrich W. ; Ermes, Markus ; Bittkau, Karsten ; Carius, Reinhard

Author_Institution

IEK5 - Photovoltaics, Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH, Julich, Germany

fYear

2014

fDate

8-13 June 2014

Firstpage

3347

Lastpage

3351

Abstract

In this study, light propagation in textured hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin-film solar cells is investigated on a sub-micron-scale by means of dual-probe scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). Applying advanced modes of operation - exclusively available at dual probe SNOMs - light propagation is analyzed with subwavelength resolution. Measurements at μc-Si:H thin-film solar cells layer are presented visualizing the influence of local surface features on light propagation. Furthermore, the intensity decay of light guided inside the solar cell is mapped. The observed intensity decay agrees well with theory, verifying the validity of the method.

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; hydrogen; light propagation; near-field scanning optical microscopy; silicon; solar cells; thin film devices; SNOM; Si:H; dual-probe scanning near-field optical microscopy; intensity decay; light propagation; local surface features; submicron-scale; subwavelength resolution; textured hydrogenated microcrystalline thin-film solar cells; Absorption; Lighting; Microscopy; Photovoltaic cells; Probes; Silicon; Wavelength measurement; characterization; light-trapping; near-field microscopy; thin-films;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925652

Filename

6925652