Figure 8
Measurements on multicrytalline silicon. (a) PL intensity I 1 (left side) in comparison to a PL imaging measured lifetime (right side) of the same wafer. Both measurements are in good qualitative agreement. An excerpt in the white square is further analyzed in (b) In both images denuded zones of 100-μm width with higher lifetimes are visible around the dark grain boundaries. (b) Micro-photoluminescence lifetime map of the quantitative Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime. The map shows three grain boundaries with distinctively different recombination properties. The upper right grain boundary is almost recombination inactive and hardly visible, whereas the grain boundary on the lower right side is highly recombination active, which can be attributed to a strong metal precipitate decoration.