Investigation of modified p-n junctions in CSG solar cells

In this paper a method for studying p-n junctions is described. Different electron and ion beam charactersiation methods are introduced to determine the p-n-junction position using two different examples from Crystalline Silicon on Glass (CSG) thin film technology. In a first example lateral and cross section electron beam induced current (EBIC) measurements revealed that oxygen rich columnar growth at textured substrates disturbs strongly the p-n junction. In a second example diffusion from glass specimen is identified by TOF-SIMS to influencing the electrical and structural characteristics of the thin Si layer are responsible for the modified p-n junction. A model describing the formation of both defect structures is introduced