Inventors:
Ian Andrew Maxwell - Five Dock, AU
Thorsten Trupke - Coogee, AU
Robert Andrew Bardos - Surry Hills, AU
Kenneth Edmund Arnett - Boulder CO, US
Assignee:
BT Imaging Pty. Ltd. - Surry Hills, NSW
International Classification:
G01N 21/64
US Classification:
2504591, 2504581, 2502081
Abstract:
Methods and systems are presented for acquiring photoluminescence images () of silicon solar cells and wafers () as they progress along a manufacturing line (). In preferred embodiments the images are acquired while maintaining motion of the samples. In certain embodiments photoluminescence is generated with short pulse, high intensity excitation, () for instance by a flash lamp () while in other embodiments images are acquired in line scanning fashion. The photoluminescence images can be analysed to obtain information on average or spatially resolved values of one or more sample properties such as minority carrier diffusion length, minority carrier lifetime, dislocation defects, impurities and shunts, or information on the incidence or growth of cracks in a sample.