Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

Atamanuk, Katherine; Luria, Justin; Huey, Bryan D.

doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

Journal Article · Thu Jun 14 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.9.171· OSTI ID:1628621

^[1]; Luria, Justin ^[2]; ^[2]

Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

The nanoscale optoelectronic properties of materials can be especially important for polycrystalline photovoltaics including many sensor and solar cell designs. For thin film solar cells such as CdTe, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are especially critical performance indicators, often varying between and even within individual grains. A new method for directly mapping the open-circuit voltage leverages photo-conducting AFM, along with an additional proportional-integral-derivative feedback loop configured to maintain open-circuit conditions while scanning. Alternating with short-circuit current mapping efficiently provides complementary insight into the highly microstructurally sensitive local and ensemble photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, direct open-circuit voltage mapping is compatible with tomographic AFM, which additionally leverages gradual nanoscale milling by the AFM probe essentially for serial sectioning. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional results for CdTe solar cells during in situ illumination reveal local to mesoscale contributions to PV performance based on the order of magnitude variations in photovoltaic properties with distinct grains, at grain boundaries, and for sub-granular planar defects.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-00ER41132

OSTI ID:: 1628621

Journal Information:: Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, Journal Name: Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology Vol. 9; ISSN 2190-4286

Publisher:: Beilstein InstituteCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (30)

Understanding the Beneficial Role of Grain Boundaries in Polycrystalline Solar Cells from Single-Grain-Boundary Scanning Probe Microscopy Visoly-Fisher, I.; Cohen, S. R.; Gartsman, K. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200500396	journal	March 2006
How Polycrystalline Devices Can Outperform Single-Crystal Ones: Thin Film CdTe/CdS Solar Cells Visoly-Fisher, I.; Cohen, S. R.; Ruzin, A. Advanced Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.200306624	journal	June 2004
Direct Imaging of Cl- and Cu-Induced Short-Circuit Efficiency Changes in CdTe Solar Cells Poplawsky, Jonathan D.; Paudel, Naba R.; Li, Chen Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201400454	journal	May 2014
Mapping photovoltaic performance with nanoscale resolution Kutes, Yasemin; Aguirre, Brandon A.; Bosse, James L. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 24, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2698	journal	October 2015
Indentation mapping revealed poroelastic, but not viscoelastic, properties spanning native zonal articular cartilage Wahlquist, Joseph A.; DelRio, Frank W.; Randolph, Mark A. Acta Biomaterialia, Vol. 64 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2017.10.003	journal	December 2017
The thermo-mechanical degradation of ethylene vinyl acetate used as a solar panel adhesive and encapsulant Badiee, A.; Ashcroft, I. A.; Wildman, R. D. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, Vol. 68 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijadhadh.2016.03.008	journal	July 2016
Non-destructive determination of phase, size, and strain of individual grains in polycrystalline photovoltaic materials Mar Lucas, Mariana; Ramos, Tiago; Jørgensen, Peter S. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 887 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.161364	journal	December 2021
High-speed atomic force microscopy for nano-visualization of dynamic biomolecular processes Ando, Toshio; Uchihashi, Takayuki; Fukuma, Takeshi Progress in Surface Science, Vol. 83, Issue 7-9, p. 337-437 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progsurf.2008.09.001	journal	November 2008
Nanometer-scale electronic and microstructural properties of grain boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Sadewasser, S.; Abou-Ras, D.; Azulay, D. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 519, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2010.12.227	journal	August 2011
Three-Dimensional Observation of the Conductive Filament in Nanoscaled Resistive Memory Devices Celano, Umberto; Goux, Ludovic; Belmonte, Attilio Nano Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl500049g	journal	April 2014
Nanoscale Imaging of Photocurrent and Efficiency in CdTe Solar Cells Leite, Marina S.; Abashin, Maxim; Lezec, Henri J. ACS Nano, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1021/nn5052585	journal	October 2014
Real-space observation of unbalanced charge distribution inside a perovskite-sensitized solar cell Bergmann, Victor W.; Weber, Stefan A. L.; Javier Ramos, F. Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6001	journal	September 2014
Charge transport in CdTe solar cells revealed by conductive tomographic atomic force microscopy Luria, Justin; Kutes, Yasemin; Moore, Andrew Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.150	journal	September 2016
Fast imaging and fast force spectroscopy of single biopolymers with a new atomic force microscope designed for small cantilevers Viani, M. B.; Schäffer, T. E.; Paloczi, G. T. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 70, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1150069	journal	November 1999
Recombination by grain-boundary type in CdTe Moseley, John; Metzger, Wyatt K.; Moutinho, Helio R. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926726	journal	July 2015
Error-corrected AFM: a simple and broadly applicable approach for substantially improving AFM image accuracy Bosse, James L.; Huey, Bryan D. Nanotechnology, Vol. 25, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/25/15/155704	journal	March 2014
Ion-damage-free planarization or shallow angle sectioning of solar cells for mapping grain orientation and nanoscale photovoltaic properties Kutes, Yasemin; Luria, Justin; Sun, Yu Nanotechnology, Vol. 28, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/aa67c2	journal	April 2017
Key Aspects of CdTe/CdS Solar Cells Durose, K.; Boyle, D.; Abken, A. physica status solidi (b), Vol. 229, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3951(200201)229:2<1055::AID-PSSB1055>3.0.CO;2-W	journal	January 2002
Investigating the Role of Grain Boundaries in CZTS and CZTSSe Thin Film Solar Cells with Scanning Probe Microscopy Li, Joel B.; Chawla, Vardaan; Clemens, Bruce M. Advanced Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201103470	journal	January 2012
Characterization of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant: Effects of thermal processing and weathering degradation on its discoloration Pern, F.; Czanderna, A. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 25, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0927-0248(92)90013-F	journal	January 1992
TEM, AFM, and cathodoluminescence characterization of CdTe thin films Al-Jassim, M. M.; Yan, Y.; Moutinho, H. R. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 387, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(00)01707-7	journal	May 2001
Characterisation of thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells using electron and optical beam induced current Galloway, S. A.; Edwards, P. R.; Durose, K. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 57, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0248(98)00168-8	journal	February 1999
Mapping the Photoresponse of CH ₃ NH ₃ PbI ₃ Hybrid Perovskite Thin Films at the Nanoscale Kutes, Yasemin; Zhou, Yuanyuan; Bosse, James L. Nano Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b04157	journal	May 2016
Efficient silicon light-emitting diodes Green, Martin A.; Zhao, Jianhua; Wang, Aihua Nature, Vol. 412, Issue 6849 https://doi.org/10.1038/35090539	journal	August 2001
Trapped charge-driven degradation of perovskite solar cells Ahn, Namyoung; Kwak, Kwisung; Jang, Min Seok Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13422	journal	November 2016
Physics and chemistry of CdTe/CdS thin film heterojunction photovoltaic devices: fundamental and critical aspects Kumar, S. Girish; Rao, K. S. R. Koteswara Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1039/C3EE41981A	journal	January 2014
Enhanced electrical properties at boundaries including twin boundaries of polycrystalline CdTe thin-film solar cells Li, H.; Liu, X. X.; Lin, Y. S. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CP00564G	journal	January 2015
Electrical tomography using atomic force microscopy and its application towards carbon nanotube-based interconnects Schulze, A.; Hantschel, T.; Dathe, A. Nanotechnology, Vol. 23, Issue 30 https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/23/30/305707	journal	July 2012
Solar radiation durability of materials components and systems for Low Concentration Photovoltaic Systems French, Roger H.; Murray, Myles P.; Lin, Wei-Chun 2011 IEEE Energytech, IEEE 2011 EnergyTech https://doi.org/10.1109/EnergyTech.2011.5948501	conference	May 2011
Investigation of Acetic Acid Corrosion Impact on Printed Solar Cell Contacts Kraft, Achim; Labusch, Lutz; Ensslen, Tobias IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2395146	journal	May 2015

Cited By (2)

Investigation of AFM-based machining of ferroelectric thin films at the nanoscale Zhang, Fengyuan; Edwards, David; Deng, Xiong Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 127, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5133018	journal	January 2020
Scanning probe microscopy for energy-related materials Berger, Rüdiger; Grévin, Benjamin; Leclère, Philippe Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, Vol. 10 https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.10.12	journal	January 2019

Figures / Tables (4)

Similar Records

Mapping photovoltaic performance with nanoscale resolution

Journal Article · Thu Oct 15 20:00:00 EDT 2015 · Progress in Photovoltaics · OSTI ID:1237358

Direct nanoscale mapping of open circuit voltages at local back surface fields for PERC solar cells

Journal Article · Sun May 03 20:00:00 EDT 2020 · Journal of Materials Science · OSTI ID:1845846

Ion-damage-free planarization or shallow angle sectioning of solar cells for mapping grain orientation and nanoscale photovoltaic properties

Journal Article · Mon Apr 10 20:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nanotechnology · OSTI ID:1399879

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
Cadmium Telluride (CdTe)
Materials Science
PV Performance
Photo-Conductive AFM (pcAFM)
Physics
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Solar Cell
Tomographic AFM

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

Citation Formats

References (30)

Cited By (2)

Figures / Tables (4)

Similar Records

Related Subjects