Nondestructive contactless measurement of bulk lifetime and surface recombination using single pass infrared free carrier absorption

The measurement of bulk lifetime and surface recombination velocities of solar-cell-grade silicon wafers using the modulated free carrier absorption technique is discussed. The results of a comparison of the effective lifetime of a silicon wafer as measured by the inductively coupled photoconductive decay method and the bulk lifetime and the surface recombination velocity as measured using the single-pass free carrier absorption method are presented and compared. The free carrier method is shown to allow the separation of the recombination into its bulk and surface components without the need to modify or destroy the sample.<>