Defect detection in solar cells via electroluminescence, LBIC, and EBIC methods

Abstract

Structural defects affecting the efficiency of multicrystalline silicon solar cells are investigated by the electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) mode of a scanning electron microscope and the laser-beam-induced current (LBIC) method. It is experimentally demonstrated that the LBIC technique is more sensitive to electrically active 2D defects than the EBIC approach at large values of the diffusion length and excitation-beam penetration depth. The comparison of LBIC (or EBIC) and electroluminescence images enables us to reveal the correlation between solar-cell short circuits and electrically active structural defects.