Characterization of epitaxial silicon thin film solar cells on SSP substrate

The characterization of direct epitaxial crystalline silicon thin film solar cells on SSP (silicon sheets from powder) ribbons was investigated using EBIC and SR-LBIC methods. Results of EBIC images show that recombination centers are situated at planar grain boundaries (GBs) as well as vertical GBs; the contrast in intragrain is low. The large dark areas of recombination centers in the EBIC picture are due to the precipitates which were formed during the epitaxial deposition. The minority carrier diffusion length is quite inhomogeneous over the whole cell area. A maximum L/sub eff/ of about 25 /spl mu/m and mean values around 15 /spl mu/m are determined of the best solar cell.