TY - GEN
T1 - Localization of shunts across the floating junction of DSBC solar cells by lock-in thermography
AU - Breitenstein, O.
AU - Langenkamp, M.
AU - McIntosh, K. R.
AU - Honsberg, C. B.
AU - Rinio, M.
PY - 2000/1/1
Y1 - 2000/1/1
N2 - The passivation that is provided by a floating junction (FJ) is degraded by any shunts that occur across the FJ. In Double-Sided Buried-Contact (DSBC) solar cells, shunts have been suspected to occur at various locations of the FJ: at pinholes in the insulating oxide, tunnel currents near the rear fingers, and at the cell edges. However, until recently there has not been a simple technique to precisely localize these shunts, since by definition, the FJ cannot be contacted. Infrared lock-in thermography, performed in the dark by applying a pulsed forward bias to the emitter, can localize FJ shunts with a spacial resolution down to 5 urn. The FJs are "remotely" forward biased via the emitter potential, and the heat dissipation at the shunts is imaged. This technique permits the investigation of any type of leakage phenomena in any type of solar cell within minutes of measuring time by a non-contacting measurement, including the bias dependent leakage current at the edge of the cells.
AB - The passivation that is provided by a floating junction (FJ) is degraded by any shunts that occur across the FJ. In Double-Sided Buried-Contact (DSBC) solar cells, shunts have been suspected to occur at various locations of the FJ: at pinholes in the insulating oxide, tunnel currents near the rear fingers, and at the cell edges. However, until recently there has not been a simple technique to precisely localize these shunts, since by definition, the FJ cannot be contacted. Infrared lock-in thermography, performed in the dark by applying a pulsed forward bias to the emitter, can localize FJ shunts with a spacial resolution down to 5 urn. The FJs are "remotely" forward biased via the emitter potential, and the heat dissipation at the shunts is imaged. This technique permits the investigation of any type of leakage phenomena in any type of solar cell within minutes of measuring time by a non-contacting measurement, including the bias dependent leakage current at the edge of the cells.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=6344293634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=6344293634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/PVSC.2000.915770
DO - 10.1109/PVSC.2000.915770
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:6344293634
T3 - Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
SP - 124
EP - 127
BT - Conference Record of the 28th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 2000
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 28th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2000
Y2 - 15 September 2000 through 22 September 2000
ER -