Technique for detecting a defect in a multi-junction solar cell

1. A method for detecting a defect in a multi-junction solar cell comprising at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions, the method comprising:

exciting a first p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a first excitation wavelength range at a first illumination intensity that is constant over time;

exciting a second p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a second excitation wavelength range at a second illumination intensity that changes over time;

detecting photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction; and

generating a plurality of spatially resolved photoluminescence image of the photoluminescence light emitted by the first p-n junction while the second illumination intensity is changed over time; and

observing the generated plurality of photoluminescence images for regions in which the intensity changes over time.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

observing the first image for spatial intensity variations.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein

observing the first image for spatial intensity variations comprises observing the first image for exponential intensity variations.

4. A method for detecting a defect in a multi junction solar cell comprising at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions, the method comprising:

exciting a first p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a first excitation wavelength range;

exciting a second p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a second excitation wavelength range;

detecting photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction;

generating the a spatially resolved photoluminescence image of photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction under excitation of the first p-n junction at a first illumination intensity and under excitation of the second p-n junction at a second illumination intensity;

generating a second photoluminescence image of photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction under excitation of the first p-n junction at the first illumination intensity and under excitation of the second p-n junction at a third illumination intensity different from the second illumination intensity;

combining the first photoluminescence image and the second photoluminescence image to a third photoluminescence image by using a mathematical operation; and

observing the third photoluminescence image for spatial intensity variations.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mathematical operation is a subtraction of intensity values of one of the first and second photoluminescence image from the other of the first and second photoluminescence image.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein exciting the first p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a first excitation wavelength range is carried out at a first illumination intensity that is configured to create a photocurrent in the first p-n junction in a range of 1 to 100 mA/cm2.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the photocurrent created in the first p-n junction is in a range of 10 to 20 mA/cm2.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein exciting the second p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a second excitation wavelength range is carried out at a second illumination intensity that is configured to create a photocurrent in the second p-n junction in a range of 1 to 100 mA/cm2.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the photocurrent created in the second p-n junction is in a range of 10 to 20 mA/cm2.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein

a center wavelength of the photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction is not included in the first excitation wavelength range.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein

a center wavelength of the photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction is not included in the first excitation wavelength range;

a center wavelength of the photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction is not included in the second excitation wavelength range; and

the first excitation wavelength range and the second excitation wavelength range do not overlap each other.

12. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable non-transitory storage device comprising program code portions for performing the steps of claim 1 when the computer program product is executed on a computing device.

13. An apparatus for detecting a defect in a multi-junction solar cell comprising at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions, the apparatus comprising:

a first illumination unit configured to excite a first p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a first excitation wavelength range at a first illumination intensity that is constant over time;

a second illumination unit configured to excite a second p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a second excitation wavelength range at a second illumination intensity that changes over time;

a detecting unit configured to detect photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction;

an image generating unit configured to generate a plurality of spatially resolved first photoluminescence image of the photoluminescence light emitted by the first p-n junction while the second illumination intensity is changed over time; and

an observation unit for observing the generated plurality of photoluminescence images for regions in which the intensity changes over time.

14. An apparatus for detecting a defect in a multi junction solar cell comprising at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions, the apparatus comprising:

a first illumination unit configured to excite a first p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a first excitation wavelength range;

a second illumination unit configured to excite a second p-n junction of the at least two vertically stacked p-n junctions by illuminating the solar cell with excitation light in a second excitation wavelength range;

a detecting unit configured to detect photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction; and

an image generating unit is configured to generate a spatially resolved first photoluminescence image of photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction under excitation of the first p-n junction at a first illumination intensity and under excitation of the second p-n junction at a second illumination intensity and to generate a second photoluminescence image of photoluminescence light emitted by photoluminescence of the first p-n junction under excitation of the first p-n junction at the first illumination intensity and under excitation of the second p-n junction at a third illumination intensity different from the second illumination intensity;

a combining unit configured to combine the first photoluminescence image and the second photoluminescence image to a third photoluminescence image by using a mathematical operation; and

an observation unit configured to observe the third photoluminescence image for spatial intensity variations.