Electrical characterization of materials and devices for photovoltaic applications

Abstract

First discovered by E.T. Hall in 1879 [1], the Hall Effect is a phenomena that explains the behaviour of a material placed in a magnetic field and a current is allowed to flow through the material, producing an electric field. By measuring this electric field a transverse potential can be measured known as the Hall voltage and in turn be used to calculate the Hall coefficient. The Hall coefficient is then used to calculate the Hall mobility, the carrier density and resistivity of the sample. All these parameters are temperature dependent and their effect on the material is measured and observed in the Hall measurements experiment In this project a LabVIEW program was designed and written, which automates Hall measurements and the temperature dependence accurately. In this project, a 25 to 300 K temperature range, a magnetic field of 0.5 T and a current of 1 mA were used throughout the temperature dependent Hall measurements (TDH) experiments. The inversion layer n-Si/PEDOT:PSS, solar cell, p- and n-type GaAs and the n-type Si were characterized using the TDH, current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The I-V and C-V, measurements were used to derive parameters to evaluate the solar cells. Using I-V data, we calculated the solar cell’s fill-factor, efficiency, quantum efficiency, short circuit current, open circuit voltage and power. The C-V measurements were used to calculate the inversion phenomenon of the cell. In addition, the Schottky related-parameters of the dark current measurements were extracted from the I-V measurements. These are the ideality factor and the barrier height. In this project a LabVIEW program was designed and written, which automates Hall measurements and the temperature dependence accurately. In this project, a 25 to 300 K temperature range, a magnetic field of 0.5 T and a current of 1 mA were used throughout the temperature dependent Hall measurements (TDH) experiments. The inversion layer n-Si/PEDOT:PSS, solar cell, p- and n-type GaAs and the n-type Si were characterized using the TDH, current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The I-V and C-V, measurements were used to derive parameters to evaluate the solar cells. Using I-V data, we calculated the solar cell’s fill-factor, efficiency, quantum efficiency, short circuit current, open circuit voltage and power. The C-V measurements were used to calculate the inversion phenomenon of the cell. In addition, the Schottky related-parameters of the dark current measurements were extracted from the I-V measurements. These are the ideality factor and the barrier height.