Imaging current paths in silicon photovoltaic devices with a quantum diamond microscope

Abstract

Magnetic imaging with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, also known as quantum diamond microscopy, has emerged as a useful technique for the spatial mapping of charge currents in solid-state devices. In this work, we investigate an application to photovoltaic (PV) devices, where the currents are induced by light. We develop a widefield nitrogen-vacancy microscope that allows independent stimulus and measurement of the PV device, and test our system on a range of prototype crystalline silicon PV devices. We first demonstrate micrometer-scale vector magnetic field imaging of custom PV devices illuminated by a focused laser spot, revealing the internal current paths in both short-circuit and open-circuit conditions. We then demonstrate time-resolved imaging of photocurrents in an interdigitated back-contact solar cell, detecting current build-up and subsequent decay near the illumination point with microsecond resolution. This work presents a versatile and accessible analysis platform that may find distinct application in research on emerging PV technologies.

arXiv comment14 pages, 9 figures

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Visualizing bulk and edge photocurrent flow in anisotropic Weyl semimetals
• High-Resolution Short-Circuit Fault Localization in a Multi-Layer Integrated Circuit using a Quantum Diamond Microscope
• Machine Learning for Improved Current Density Reconstruction from 2D Vector Magnetic Images
• Quantum enhanced electric field mapping within semiconductor devices
• Towards high spatial resolution magnetic imaging with a compact practical quantum diamond microscope
• Aberration control in quantitative widefield quantum microscopy
• Stray magnetic field imaging of thin exfoliated iron halides flakes
• A compact, portable device for microscopic magnetic imaging based on diamond quantum sensors
• Fault Localization in a Microfabricated Surface Ion Trap using Diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Magnetometry
• Investigations of optical aberration on quantum diamond microscopy toward high spatial resolution and sensitivity
• Sensing Electric Currents in an a-IGZO TFT-Based Circuit Using a Quantum Diamond Microscope