Uwe Rau – författare

The book focuses on advanced characterization methods for thin-film solar cells that have proven their relevance both for academic and corporate photovoltaic research and development. After an introduction to thin-film photovoltaics, highly experienced experts report on device and materials characterization methods such as electroluminescence analysis, capacitance spectroscopy, and various microscopy methods. In the final part of the book simulation techniques are presented which are used for ab-initio calculations of relevant semiconductors and for device simulations in 1D, 2D and 3D. Building on a proven concept, this new edition also covers thermography, transient optoelectronic methods, and absorption and photocurrent spectroscopy.

Written by scientists from leading institutes in Germany, USA and Spain who use these techniques as the core of their scientific work and who have a precise idea of what is relevant for photovoltaic devices, this text contains concise and comprehensive lecture-like chapters on specific research methods. They focus on emerging, specialized techniques that are new to the field of photovoltaics yet have a proven relevance. However, since new methods need to be judged according to their implications for photovoltaic devices, a clear introductory chapter describes the basic physics of thin-film solar cells and modules, providing a guide to the specific advantages that are offered by each individual method. The choice of subjects is a representative cross-section of those methods enjoying a high degree of visibility in recent scientific literature. Furthermore, they deal with specific device-related topics and include a selection of material and surface/interface analysis methods that have recently proven their relevance. Finally, simulation techniques are presented that are used for ab-initio calculations of relevant semiconductors and for device simulations in 1D and 2D. For students in physics, solid state physicists, materials scientists, PhD students in material sciences, materials institutes, semiconductor physicists, and those working in the semiconductor industry, as well as being suitable as supplementary reading in related courses.

Written by scientists from leading institutes in Germany, USA and Spain who use these techniques as the core of their scientific work and who have a precise idea of what is relevant for photovoltaic devices, this text contains concise and comprehensive lecture-like chapters on specific research methods. They focus on emerging, specialized techniques that are new to the field of photovoltaics yet have a proven relevance. However, since new methods need to be judged according to their implications for photovoltaic devices, a clear introductory chapter describes the basic physics of thin-film solar cells and modules, providing a guide to the specific advantages that are offered by each individual method. The choice of subjects is a representative cross-section of those methods enjoying a high degree of visibility in recent scientific literature. Furthermore, they deal with specific device-related topics and include a selection of material and surface/interface analysis methods that have recently proven their relevance. Finally, simulation techniques are presented that are used for ab-initio calculations of relevant semiconductors and for device simulations in 1D and 2D. For students in physics, solid state physicists, materials scientists, PhD students in material sciences, materials institutes, semiconductor physicists, and those working in the semiconductor industry, as well as being suitable as supplementary reading in related courses.

Written by renowned experts in the field of photon management in solar cells, this one-stop reference gives an introduction to the physics of light management in solar cells, and discusses the different concepts and methods of applying photon management. The authors cover the physics, principles, concepts, technologies, and methods used, explaining how to increase the efficiency of solar cells by splitting or modifying the solar spectrum before they absorb the sunlight. In so doing, they present novel concepts and materials allowing for the cheaper, more flexible manufacture of solar cells and systems. For educational purposes, the authors have split the reasons for photon management into spatial and spectral light management. Bridging the gap between the photonics and the photovoltaics communities, this is an invaluable reference for materials scientists, physicists in industry, experimental physicists, lecturers in physics, Ph.D. students in physics and material sciences, engineers in power technology, applied and surface physicists.

Written by renowned experts in the field of photon management in solar cells, this one-stop reference gives an introduction to the physics of light management in solar cells, and discusses the different concepts and methods of applying photon management. The authors cover the physics, principles, concepts, technologies, and methods used, explaining how to increase the efficiency of solar cells by splitting or modifying the solar spectrum before they absorb the sunlight. In so doing, they present novel concepts and materials allowing for the cheaper, more flexible manufacture of solar cells and systems. For educational purposes, the authors have split the reasons for photon management into spatial and spectral light management. Bridging the gap between the photonics and the photovoltaics communities, this is an invaluable reference for materials scientists, physicists in industry, experimental physicists, lecturers in physics, Ph.D. students in physics and material sciences, engineers in power technology, applied and surface physicists.

The book focuses on advanced characterization methods for thin-film solar cells that have proven their relevance both for academic and corporate photovoltaic research and development. After an introduction to thin-film photovoltaics, highly experienced experts report on device and materials characterization methods such as electroluminescence analysis, capacitance spectroscopy, and various microscopy methods. In the final part of the book simulation techniques are presented which are used for ab-initio calculations of relevant semiconductors and for device simulations in 1D, 2D and 3D.

Building on a proven concept, this new edition also covers thermography, transient optoelectronic methods, and absorption and photocurrent spectroscopy.

The book focuses on advanced characterization methods for thin-film solar cells that have proven their relevance both for academic and corporate photovoltaic research and development. After an introduction to thin-film photovoltaics, highly experienced experts report on device and materials characterization methods such as electroluminescence analysis, capacitance spectroscopy, and various microscopy methods. In the final part of the book simulation techniques are presented which are used for ab-initio calculations of relevant semiconductors and for device simulations in 1D, 2D and 3D.

Building on a proven concept, this new edition also covers thermography, transient optoelectronic methods, and absorption and photocurrent spectroscopy.

Chalcopyrites, in particular those with a wide band gap, are fascinating materials in terms of their technological potential in the next generation of thin-film solar cells and in terms of their basic material properties. They exhibit uniquely low defect formation energies, leading to unusual doping and phase behavior and to extremely benign grain boundaries. This book collects articles on a number of those basic material properties of wide-gap chalcopyrites, comparing them to their low-gap cousins. They explore the doping of the materials, the electronic structure and the transport through interfaces and grain boundaries, the formation of the electric field in a solar cell, the mechanisms and suppression of recombination, the role of inhomogeneities, and the technological role of wide-gap chalcopyrites.