Electron-Beam-Induced Current Measurements of Thin-Film Solar Cells

The present tutorial review provides a practical guide to the analysis of semiconductor devices using electron-beam-induced currents (EBICs). The authors focus on cross-sectional EBIC measurements that provide an experimental assay of the efficiency of charge carrier collection in a semiconductor diode. The tutorial covers the fundamental physics of the technique, specimen preparation, data acquisition, and numerical simulation and analysis of the experimental data. A key focus is put on application cases from the field of thin-film photovoltaics as well as specific pitfalls that may occur, such as effects occurring under high-level injection and at grain boundaries of polycrystalline materials.