1. Applications of photoluminescence imaging to dopant and carrier concentration measurements of silicon wafers
- Author
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Daniel Macdonald, Xinyu Zhang, Siew Yee Lim, Maxime Forster, Jan Holtkamp, Andres Cuevas, Martin C. Schubert, and Publica
- Subjects
Photoluminescence ,Materials science ,Silicon ,Dopant ,business.industry ,Analytical chemistry ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Carrier lifetime ,Control and development of Measuremetn Technology ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Imaging ,Silicium-Photovoltaik ,chemistry ,Sputtering ,Etching (microfabrication) ,Surface roughness ,Optoelectronics ,Wafer ,Charakterisierung ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,business ,Zellen und Module ,Charakterisierung von Prozess- und Silicium-Materialien ,Solarzellen - Entwicklung und Charakterisierung - Abstract
Photoluminescence-based imaging is most commonly used to measure the excess minority carrier density and its corresponding lifetime. By using appropriate surface treatments, this high-resolution imaging technique can also be used for majority carrier concentration determination. The mechanism involves effectively pinning the minority excess carrier density, resulting in a dependence of the photoluminescence intensity on only the majority carrier density. Three suitable surface preparation methods are introduced in this paper: aluminum sputtering, deionized water etching, and mechanical abrasion. Spatially resolved dopant density images determined using this technique are consistent with the images obtained by a well-established technique based on free carrier infrared emission. Three applications of the technique are also presented in this paper, which include imaging of oxygen-related thermal donors, radial dopant density analysis, and the study of donor-related recomb ination active defects. These applications demonstrate the usefulness of the technique in characterizing silicon materials for photovoltaics.
- Published
- 2013