Ultrashort laser pulses for electrical characterization of solar cells

The ability to provide highly accurate performance evaluations of photovoltaic devices has never been more important given the recent, and anticipated, progress in photovoltaics. The lowest possible measurement uncertainties are required for reliably assessing technological advances and reducing investment uncertainty. As the further reduction of these uncertainties within conventional solar cell measurements is often hindered by the measurement setups themselves, innovative approaches in the development of new measurement facilities are vital. This thesis addresses such demand by applying ultrashort laser pulses for highly accurate solar cell characterization. Based on a detailed investigation of pulse-solar cell interaction, a setup for spectral responsivity measurements is developed. This cutting-edge measurement setup substantially outperforms current state-of-the-art facilities in terms of measurement accuracy. Furthermore, a novel measurement approach is presented that takes advantage of spectrally shaped supercontinuum radiation. Imitating standard solar spectra with the shaped supercontinuum radiation promises a quicker and more accurate measurement of the solar cell's short circuit current than is presently possible using conventional methods.