TY - JOUR N2 - Noise spectroscopy as a highly sensitive method for non-destructive diagnostics of semiconductor devices was applied to solar cells based on crystalline silicon with a view to evaluating the quality and reliability of this solar cell type. The experimental approach was used in a reverse-biased condition where the internal structure of solar cells, as well as pn-junction itself, was electrically stressed and overloaded by a strong electric field. This gave rise to a strong generation of a current noise accompanied by local thermal instabilities, especially in the defect sites. It turned out that local temperature changes could be correlated with generation of flicker noise in a wide frequency range. Furthermore, an electrical breakdown in a nonstable form also occurred in some specific local regions what created micro-plasma noise with a two-level current fluctuation in the form of a Lorentzian-like noise spectrum. The noise research was carried out on both of these phenomena in combination with the spectrally-filtered electroluminescence mapping in the visible/near-infrared spectrum range and the dark lock-in infrared thermography in the far-infrared range. Then the physical origin of the light emission from particular defects was searched by a scanning electron microscope and additionally there was performed an experimental elimination of one specific defect by the focused ion beam milling. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/104031/PDF/art04.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/104031 PY - 2018 IS - No 2 DO - 10.24425/119565 KW - non-destructive diagnostics KW - c-Si solar cells KW - 1= f noise KW - electroluminescence KW - lock-in IR thermography A1 - Skvarenina, Lubomir A1 - Macku, Robert PB - Polish Academy of Sciences Committee on Metrology and Scientific Instrumentation VL - vol. 25 DA - 2018.06.15 T1 - Noise and optical spectroscopy of single junction silicon solar cell UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/104031 T2 - Metrology and Measurement Systems ER -