Evaluation of grain boundary recombination velocity in polycrystalline silicon from the spectral response of Schottky-barrier solar cells

A method based on the spectral response of polycrystalline semiconductor photovoltaic cells for evaluation of the grain boundary recombination velocity (S
GB
) is presented. The wavelength of the maximum of the spectral response, for a polycrystalline semiconductor with known grain size, depends on S
GB
. By comparison of the experimental with the theoretical wavelength of the maximum of the spectral response, it is possible to determine the grain boundary recombination velocity.