AbstractA contactless spatially resolved measurement of bulk free-carrier lifetime in polycrystalline silicon ingots was accomplished using optically modulated free-carrier infrared absorption. Using a CW Nd:YAG laser (λ = 1.319 μm) for a probe and novel pulsed, tunable, infrared dye laser (λ = 1.10 to 1.13 μm) with photon energies near the Si bandgap, for a pump, the free-carrier lifetime was determined from transient absorption measurements to a maximum depth of 3.0 cm from the surface of an ingot. The spatial dependence of the free-carrier lifetime and the distribution of precipitates (determined from infrared probe transmission measurements) measured along the growth axis of an ingot were found to be strongly related to the spatial dependence of the I–V characteristics of large area solar cells fabricated from the subsequently wafered ingot.
