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Numerical Simulations of Cathodoluminescence Measurements in Thin-Film Solar Cells

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2510532· OSTI ID:1525762
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
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Cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements can be applied to assess grain-boundary (GB) and grain-interior (GI) recombination in thin-film solar cell materials and made quantitative if we can develop CL models that account for material and measurement complexities. Recently, we developed a three-dimensional numerical CL model, based in MATLAB, that simulates the GI CL intensity as a function of four parameters: grain size, GI lifetime, and GB and surface recombination velocities. The model assumes that GB electrostatic potentials are screened by the high excesscarrier densities used in the CL measurement such that transport is governed by ambipolar diffusion. Here, we develop models to address directly GB potentials and their effects on these measurements. First, we transfer the MATLAB-based model to COMSOL software, and then introduce shallow donors to the GBs to produce potentials. We also develop a two-dimensional model in COMSOL to simulate CL GB contrast with GB potentials. Simulations indicate that GB potentials can increase or decrease CL intensities relative to the zero-potential case. However, the high electron-beam currents typically applied in CL measurements minimize the impact of GB potentials.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1525762
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5K00-73073
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

Direct Imaging of Cl- and Cu-Induced Short-Circuit Efficiency Changes in CdTe Solar Cells journal May 2014
Measurement of Chlorine Concentrations at CdTe Grain Boundaries journal November 2014
Near-field optical beam-induced currents in CdTe∕CdS solar cells: Direct measurement of enhanced photoresponse at grain boundaries journal October 2004
Luminescence methodology to determine grain-boundary, grain-interior, and surface recombination in thin-film solar cells journal September 2018
Grain-Boundary-Enhanced Carrier Collection in CdTe Solar Cells journal April 2014
Charge transport in CdTe solar cells revealed by conductive tomographic atomic force microscopy journal September 2016
Direct evidence of enhanced chlorine segregation at grain boundaries in polycrystalline CdTe thin films via three-dimensional TOF-SIMS imaging: Chlorine segregation at grain boundaries in CdTe thin films journal April 2014

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
42 ENGINEERING
cathodoluminescence
grain boundaries
numerical modeling
recombination
thin film solar cells