Mapping the Local Photoelectronic Properties of Polycrystalline Solar Cells Through High Resolution Laser-Beam-Induced Current Microscopy

Author

Leite, Marina S. ; Abashin, Maxim ; Lezec, Henri J. ; Gianfrancesco, Anthony G. ; Talin, A. Alec ; Zhitenev, Nikolai B.

Author_Institution

Center for Nanoscale Sci. & Technol., Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Volume

4

Issue

1

fYear

2014

fDate

Jan. 2014

Firstpage

311

Lastpage

316

Abstract

To boost the efficiency of thin-film polycrystalline solar cells that are microscopically inhomogeneous, it is imperative to understand how the grain interiors (GIs) and grain boundaries (GBs) within these materials affect its overall electronic properties. By using an apertured near-field scanning optical microscope in an illumination mode, we determined the local photocurrent that is generated within the GIs and at the GBs with nanoscale resolution and correlate the results with surface morphology and composition.

Keywords

OBIC; grain boundaries; scanning probe microscopy; solar cells; surface morphology; thin films; apertured near-field scanning optical microscope; grain boundaries; grain interiors; illumination mode; laser beam induced current microscopy; local photocurrent; local photoelectronic properties; nanoscale resolution; surface morphology; thin film polycrystalline solar cells; Current measurement; Microscopy; Photoconductivity; Photovoltaic cells; Probes; Surface topography; Cadmium compounds; current measurement; grain boundaries (GBs); photovoltaic (PV) cells; scanning probe microscopy; thin-film devices; wavelength measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2284860

Filename

6648671