Assessment and Application of Defect Characterization via Lifetime Spectroscopy in High Purity C-Si. - Regina Post - Bog

The performance limit of monocrystalline silicon solar cells is almost reached. Only
marginal effects are limiting the excess carrier lifetime of nowadays used materials.
Nonetheless it is interesting to investigate and characterize the limiting effects to
improve the performance even further and to deepen the understanding, enabling new
approaches and novel cell structures.

This thesis tries to characterize limiting defect in high standard Gallium doped silicon
via lifetime spectroscopy. To assess the validity of the results, the limits of this
commonly used method (lifetime spectroscopy) are analyzed by evaluation of simulated
lifetime data. Further, a guideline for future lifetime evaluations is given which can
improve the outcome of the complex evaluation and helps differentiate between bulk
and surface effects.