On the Conversion Between Recombination Rates and Electronic Defect Parameters in Semiconductors

With the remarkable advances in semiconductor processing, devices such as solar cells have fewer and fewer defects that impact their performance. Determination of the defects that currently limit the device performance, predominantly by increasing the charge carrier recombination rate, has become mo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	IEEE journal of photovoltaics Vol. 13; no. 4; pp. 524 - 534
Main Authors:	Juhl, Mattias Klaus, Heinz, Friedemann D., Coletti, Gianluca, Rougieux, Fiacre E., Sun, Chang, Contreras, Michelle V., Niewelt, Tim, Krich, Jacob, Schubert, Martin C.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Piscataway IEEE 01-07-2023 The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects:	Carrier recombination charge carrier lifetime Current carriers Deep level transient spectroscopy Defects Energy states Measurement uncertainty Photovoltaic cells Photovoltaic systems Solar cells Spectroscopy Temperature dependence Temperature distribution Temperature measurement
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Summary:	With the remarkable advances in semiconductor processing, devices such as solar cells have fewer and fewer defects that impact their performance. Determination of the defects that currently limit the device performance, predominantly by increasing the charge carrier recombination rate, has become more challenging with standard methods like deep level transient spectroscopy. To circumvent this limitation, the photovoltaic community is attempting to use the measurement of the charge carrier recombination rates to identify the remaining defects, as this approach is intrinsically sensitive to the defects that limit the cell's/sample's performance/lifetime. This article reviews this new approach, contrasting it with the developments that have occurred with deep-level transient spectroscopy, finding several critical limitations in the current assumptions, and providing suggestions for an improved strategy.
ISSN:	2156-3381 2156-3403
DOI:	10.1109/JPHOTOV.2023.3267173