Direct measurement of the surface recombination velocity by means of a special test device

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 2070-2073
In this paper we propose an analytical model to describe the operation of a simple test device to directly measure the surface recombination velocity S of semiconductor interfaces. The model calculates the twodimensional concentration of the carriers allowing the measurement of S. The effectiveness of both the analytical model and the measurement technique has been proved by numerical two-dimensional simulations. Finally test devices, whose surfaces have been subjected to various treatments, have been fabricated and characterized. An assessment of the measurement error is also proposed.