Solar

Thin Film Elemental Analysis

Solar cells have a complex structure with multiple layers of different materials, sometimes as thin as few nanometers.

Elemental Analysis on the Electron Microscope

Solar cells have a complex structure with multiple layers of different materials, sometimes as thin as few nanometers. Bruker's high performance EDS detector XFlash® FlatQUAD with its unique sample-detector geometry enables elemental analysis of bulk and e-transparent multilayer samples. High signal collection rate and high EDS spatial resolution can be achieved with SEM using XFlash FlatQUAD.

Layer Analysis with micro-XRF

Numerous semiconductor devices such as solar cells are nowadays made up of multiple layers. To investigate such layered systems in the final product, Bruker's micro-XRF solution allows to simultaneously measure the layers thickness and their compositions.

X-Ray Diffraction

Phase Identification in Thin Film Solar Cells

The formation of the correct crystal phase inside the photo active layer is key to the conversion efficiency of thin-film solar cells. X-ray diffraction is a very powerful non-destructive analysis technique for phase identification and quantification in polycrystalline films and powders. 

D8 DISCOVER and D8 ADVANCE are Bruker‘s laboratory diffraction solutions that combine highest powder diffraction performance with ease-of-use. They are perfectly suited to control the quality of thin-film solar cells in research, process development and production control.
 

The example depicts an XRD measurement in Bragg-Brentano geometry from a CIGS solar cell. The presence of CIGS and Mo phases is clearly visible.