Nanoscale Investigation of Carrier Lifetime on the Cross Section of Epitaxial Silicon Solar Cells Using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

Nanoscale investigation of material properties is of high interest for improving photovoltaic devices. In this paper, we present a technique to assess minority carrier lifetime at nanoscale. To do so, we use Kelvin probe force microscopy on the cross section of an epitaxial silicon solar cell under modulated frequency electrical bias. Our measurements present a good spatial and temporal agreement with standard material characterization techniques.