On the determination of the emitter saturation current density from lifetime measurements of silicon devices

• Published in: Progress in photovoltaics Vol. 21; no. 5; pp. 850 - 866
• Main Authors: Mäckel, Helmut, Varner, Kenneth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bognor Regis Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2013; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Approximation; Current density; Density; Emittance; emitter recombination current; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; minority carrier lifetime; Minority carriers; Natural energy; photoconductance measurement; Photovoltaic conversion; Saturation; Silicon; Simulation; solar cell; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Minority carrier; emitter recombination current; Charge carrier density; Doping; Transmitter; Durability; photoconductance measurement; Two dimensional model; Review; Solar cell; Crystalline material; Carrier lifetime; Analytical method; Visible radiation; Dark current; Surface properties; Illumination; Silicon; Current density; Analytical solution; minority carrier lifetime; Non contact measurement

ABSTRACT Contactless photoconductance measurements are commonly used to extract the emitter saturation current density (Joe) for crystalline silicon samples containing an emitter on the surface. We review the physics behind the analysis of Joe and compare the commonly used approximations with more g...