Using Minority Carrier Lifetime Measurement to Determine Saw Damage Characteristics on Si Wafer Surfaces

Conference · Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 EDT 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2015.7355744· OSTI ID:1251353

Sopori, Bhushan; Devayajanam, Srinivas; Basnyat, Prakash

The damage on the Si wafer surfaces, caused by ingot cutting, is determined from measurement of minority carrier lifetime (..tau..eff). Samples are sequentially etched to remove thin layers from each surface and lifetime is measured after each etch step. The thickness-removed at which the lifetime reaches a peak value corresponds to the damage depth. This technique also allows the depth distribution of the damage to be quantified in terms of surface recombination velocity (SRV). An accurate measurement of ..tau..eff requires corrections to optical reflection, and transmission to account for changes in the surface morphology and in the wafer thickness.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1251353
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5J00-63643
• Resource Relation: Conference: Presented at the 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 14-19 June 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana; Related Information: Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 14-19 June 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
silicon
damage
minority carrier lifetime
acid etch