By Daniel Bright, Applications Engineer, Jordan Valley Semiconductors UK Ltd.; Richard Bytheway, Technologist, Jordan Valley Semiconductors UK Ltd.; Tamzin Lafford, Beamline Scientist, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
Solar cell performance depends on material quality, as well as on the architecture of the cell. In the search for higher-performing cells, an ability to visualize the bulk and surface quality of the material is an advantage; to do this non-destructively, even in-line, is even better. It would be good to have X-ray vision to look inside, would it not? X-ray diffraction imaging (XRDI) does just that. Images are obtained of the distortions caused by crystal defects, and quantitative measures of the lattice deformation are available. In this paper the results obtained on a commercially available XRDI tool are compared with those from a largescale public research facility.
