WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: Defects in solar cell materials -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

SPEAKER: Professor Timothy Gfroerer,

TIME: Wednesday January 25, 2012 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

Solar cells are semiconductor devices that convert sunlight into electricity. Crystalline solar cells contain imperfections that alter the performance of the device. Some of these irregularities, like the impurities that are introduced to create an internal electric field, are required for normal operation. But other defects, like mismatches in atomic alignment, reduce the conversion efficiency by allowing the light to generate heat rather than electricity. We study the light produced by semiconductors under illumination in order to characterize these defects and assess their impact on device performance.