Inferring dislocation recombination strength in multicrystalline silicon via etch pit geometry analysis

Sergio Castellanos, Jasmin Hofstetter, Maulid Kivambe, Markus Rinio, Barry Lai, Tonio Buonassisi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Dislocations limit solar cell performance by decreasing minority carrier diffusion length, leading to inefficient charge collection at the device contacts [1]. However, studies have shown that the recombination strength of dislocation clusters within millimeters away from each other can vary by orders of magnitude [2]. In this contribution, we present correlations between dislocation microstructure and recombination activity levels which span close to two orders of magnitude. We discuss a general trend observed: higher dislocation recombination activity appears to be correlated with a higher degree of impurity decoration, and a higher degree of disorder in the spatial distribution of etch pits. We present an approach to quantify the degree of disorder of dislocation clusters. Based on our observations, we hypothesize that the recombination activity of different dislocation clusters can be predicted by visual inspection of the etch pit distribution and geometry.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2014 IEEE 40th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages2957-2959
Number of pages3
ISBN (Electronic)9781479943982
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Oct 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014 - Denver, United States
Duration: 8 Jun 201413 Jun 2014

Publication series

Name2014 IEEE 40th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014

Conference

Conference40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDenver
Period8/06/1413/06/14

Keywords

  • cluster
  • dislocations
  • etch pit
  • multicrystalline
  • recombination activity
  • recombination strength
  • silicon
  • solar

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