Transient photoluminescence from silicon wafers: Finite element analysis

This paper presents an accurate and practical mathematical model of time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) response from silicon wafers generated by fast repetitive excitation pulses. The model is valid under low level injection condition and takes into account the depth dependence of carrier generation, diffusion, and surface recombination. Finite element analysis is employed for the carrier density and PL computations. By comparing computational results with results obtained from PC1D (a computer program solving fully coupled nonlinear equations for quasi-one-dimensional carrier transportation in crystalline semiconductor devices, especially focusing on photovoltaic devices), the validity of this method is confirmed. Early stage application and the limitations of this method have been studied, and future work has been proposed.