EAPSI: Environmental Testing of Multi-Crystalline Thin Film Solar Cells

存在比由硅制成的当前市场技术具有更高效率的太阳能电池材料。这些不是标准技术的原因是因为它们的制造成本非常高。许多显示出高效率的材料是通过非常缓慢和高纯度的技术生长的，这些技术昂贵且耗能。因此，该项目将致力于创造和测量具有成本效益的III-V太阳能电池在正常工作条件下的性能和行为，例如：不同的湿度水平，高温和低温以及不同的光照。这项研究将与新加坡南洋理工大学的原位透射电子显微镜（TEM）专家Martial Ducamp博士合作完成。研究结果将确定低成本III-V族太阳能电池效率较低的可能原因，从而有可能改进用于生产低成本、高效率太阳能电池的制造工艺。材料特性和电气性能之间的关系将使用透射电子显微镜（TEM）结合电子束感应电流（EBIC）进行测试。TEM观察原子间的相互作用和键，同时EBIC测量整个样品中的局部载流子收集。通过将TEM图像与EBIC信号相关联，可以将某些结构、布置或键鉴定为导致良好或不良性能。该项目还将评估TEM/EBIC在设备工作条件下的相关性，以识别性能较弱的区域和由于真实的环境因素而产生的潜在原因。随着对这些低性能区域的原因有了更深入的了解，将有可能对III-V族生长工艺进行改进，直到可以制造出成本和效率都得到优化的器件。该奖项是在东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划下设立的，旨在支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和新加坡国家研究基金会共同资助。

There exist solar cell materials that have higher efficiencies than the current market technology made from silicon. The reason these are not the standard technology is because they are exceedingly expensive to create. Many of the materials displaying high efficiencies are grown through very slow and high-purity techniques that are expensive and energy intensive. This project will therefore work to create and measure cost-effective III-V solar cells for their performance and behavior in normal operating conditions such as: different humidity levels, high and low temperatures, and varying light exposure. The research will be done in collaboration with Dr. Martial Ducamp, an expert in in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Singapore. The results of the study will identify possible causes of lower efficiencies in low-cost III-V solar cells, which will in turn make it possible to improve the manufacturing procedures used to produce lower cost, higher efficiency solar cells.The relationship between material properties and electrical performance will be tested using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with electron beam induced current (EBIC). TEM observes inter-atomic interactions and bonds, while, simultaneously, EBIC measures localized carrier collection throughout the sample. By correlating the TEM images with EBIC signal, certain structures, arrangements or bonds can be identified as resulting in good or bad performance. The project will also evaluate TEM/EBIC correlations under device operating conditions to identify weakly performing regions and potential causes that arise due to real, environmental factors. With a greater understanding of the causes of these low-performing regions, it will be possible to iterate making improvements to the III-V growth process until devices can be manufactured that are optimized both for cost and efficiency. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.