Analysis of alloy and solar cells with double-pulse calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Abstract

We applied variant of calibration free laser induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) approach for the compositional analysis of standard Gd/Ge/Si alloy and solar cells. The double pulse laser induced plasma was produced on the sample surface and the emission spectra were recorded at optimized interpulse delay and energy ratio. The Plasma temperature, determined using Boltzmann plot, was used to determine the concentration of all species present in a sample. The results are compared with reference values as well as conventional CF-LIBS results, which show that conventional and variant CF-LIBS results are similar and in close agreement to reference values. It is worth mention that the variant CF-LIBS results, but the approach is simpler and faster. Therefore, this approach was applied to three unknown polycrystalline silicon solar cells, which yield Al, C, Ca, Fe, In, Ti, Sb and Sn in the parts per million (ppm). This approach can potentially be applied for real-time trace monitoring in manufacturing processes of photovoltaic devices where conversion efficiency depends strongly on impurities’ concentration.