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Title: Near-field transport imaging applied to photovoltaic materials

Abstract

We developed and applied a new analytical technique - near-field transport imaging (NF-TI or simply TI) - to photovoltaic materials. Charge-carrier transport is an important factor in solar cell performance, and TI is an innovative approach that integrates a scanning electron microscope with a near-field scanning optical microscope, providing the possibility to study luminescence associated with recombination and transport with high spatial resolution. In this paper, we describe in detail the technical barriers we had to overcome to develop the technique for routine application and the data-fitting procedure used to calculate minority-carrier diffusion length values. The diffusion length measured by TI agrees well with the results calculated by time-resolved photoluminescence on well-controlled gallium arsenide (GaAs) thin-film samples. We report for the first time on measurements on thin-film cadmium telluride using this technique, including the determination of effective carrier diffusion length, as well as the first near-field imaging of the effect of a single localized defect on carrier transport and recombination in a GaAs heterostructure. Furthermore, by changing the scanning setup, we were able to demonstrate near-field cathodoluminescence (CL), and correlated the results with standard CL measurements. In conclusion, the TI technique shows great potential for mapping transport properties in solarmore » cell materials with high spatial resolution.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1364164
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1413791
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5K00-67811
Journal ID: ISSN 0038-092X
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Solar Energy
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 153; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0038-092X
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; transport imaging; near-field; photovoltaic materials; high resolution

Citation Formats

Xiao, Chuanxiao, Jiang, Chun -Sheng, Moseley, John, Simon, John, Schulte, Kevin, Ptak, Aaron J., Johnston, Steve, Gorman, Brian, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, Haegel, Nancy M., and Moutinho, Helio. Near-field transport imaging applied to photovoltaic materials. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.056.
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Xiao, Chuanxiao, Jiang, Chun -Sheng, Moseley, John, Simon, John, Schulte, Kevin, Ptak, Aaron J., Johnston, Steve, Gorman, Brian, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, Haegel, Nancy M., & Moutinho, Helio. Near-field transport imaging applied to photovoltaic materials. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.056
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Xiao, Chuanxiao, Jiang, Chun -Sheng, Moseley, John, Simon, John, Schulte, Kevin, Ptak, Aaron J., Johnston, Steve, Gorman, Brian, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, Haegel, Nancy M., and Moutinho, Helio. Fri . "Near-field transport imaging applied to photovoltaic materials". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.056. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1364164.
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@article{osti_1364164,
title = {Near-field transport imaging applied to photovoltaic materials},
author = {Xiao, Chuanxiao and Jiang, Chun -Sheng and Moseley, John and Simon, John and Schulte, Kevin and Ptak, Aaron J. and Johnston, Steve and Gorman, Brian and Al-Jassim, Mowafak and Haegel, Nancy M. and Moutinho, Helio},
abstractNote = {We developed and applied a new analytical technique - near-field transport imaging (NF-TI or simply TI) - to photovoltaic materials. Charge-carrier transport is an important factor in solar cell performance, and TI is an innovative approach that integrates a scanning electron microscope with a near-field scanning optical microscope, providing the possibility to study luminescence associated with recombination and transport with high spatial resolution. In this paper, we describe in detail the technical barriers we had to overcome to develop the technique for routine application and the data-fitting procedure used to calculate minority-carrier diffusion length values. The diffusion length measured by TI agrees well with the results calculated by time-resolved photoluminescence on well-controlled gallium arsenide (GaAs) thin-film samples. We report for the first time on measurements on thin-film cadmium telluride using this technique, including the determination of effective carrier diffusion length, as well as the first near-field imaging of the effect of a single localized defect on carrier transport and recombination in a GaAs heterostructure. Furthermore, by changing the scanning setup, we were able to demonstrate near-field cathodoluminescence (CL), and correlated the results with standard CL measurements. In conclusion, the TI technique shows great potential for mapping transport properties in solar cell materials with high spatial resolution.},
doi = {10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.056},
journal = {Solar Energy},
number = C,
volume = 153,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.056
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    A fully automated dual-tip scanning near-field optical microscope for localized optical excitation and detection in the visible and near-infrared
    journal, May 2019

    • Abbasirad, Najmeh; Berzins, Jonas; Kollin, Kenneth
    • Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 90, Issue 5
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5084946

    Cathodoluminescence for the 21st century: Learning more from light
    journal, September 2017

    • Coenen, T.; Haegel, N. M.
    • Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 4, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.4985767
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