Lifetime studies on crystalline silicon thin-film material by photoluminescence imaging

In this paper it is demonstrated how photoluminescence imaging (PLI) can serve to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize the properties of an epitaxial silicon layer. In the first part a set of microelectronic-grade samples is characterized electrically by determining the epitaxial layer lifetime. In the second part a set of samples for photovoltaic application is studied. In this case the focus is on the possibilities for a qualitative analysis of the thickness inhomogeneity of the epitaxial layer.