Comparison of photoluminescence and capacitance spectroscopies as efficient tools for interface characterisation of heterojunction solar cells

The correlation between diffusion capacitance and photoluminescence as a method of interface-defect density characterisation in amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells is explored by numerical modelling and experimentally. At open circuit, the influence of the defect density at the front amorphous silicon/crystalline silicon interface and the surface recombination velocity of the minority carriers in the bulk depend on the doping level of the crystalline silicon and the critical contribution of the majority carriers. Experimental illustration is given for five series of solar cells with different doping levels, interface properties and back contacts. We observe agreement between simulation and experimental results and a correlation between the two methods of measurement of interface defects. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.