Materials and Energy: Theory and Methods of Photovoltaic Material Characterization (ePub)

This book provides an extensive review of the theory of transport and recombination properties in semiconductors. The emphasis is placed on electrical and optical techniques. There is a presentation of the latest experimental and theoretical techniques used to analyze minority-carrier lifetime. The relevant hardware and instrumentation are described. The newest techniques of lifetime mapping are presented. The issues are discussed relating to effects that mask carrier lifetime in certain device structures. The discrepancy between photoconductive and photoluminescence measurement results are analyzed.

• Semiconductor Fundamentals and Background
• Optical Absorption and Radiative Recombination
• Mobility and Defect Recombination
• Carrier Diffusion and Confinement — Transient and Steady State Theory
• Carrier Dynamics in Planar Device Structures
• Transient Photoconductivity
• Time-Resolved Photoluminescence: Techniques and Analysis
• Auger Recombinationn
• Trapping Spectroscopy
• Steady State Techniques
• Free Carrier Absorption
• Recombination in Charge Separation Structures
• Photon Recycling
• Simultaneous and Comparative Measurements
• Summary and Future Work

• The topic is central and critical to photovoltaic device testing. Many researchers approach lifetime as a parameter that can be inferred indirectly from device performance or standard steady-state or transient measurements. This book updates the tools for comprehensive analysis of recombination phenomena and the influences of electrical injection levels, impurity-concentrations and spectra, surfaces and interfaces, and intrinsic materials properties