Electron beam induced current in the high injection regime

Published

July 2, 2015

Author(s)

Paul M. Haney, Heayoung Yoon, Prakash Koirala, Robert W. Collins, Nikolai B. Zhitenev

Abstract

Electron beam induced current (EBIC) is a powerful technique which measures the charge collection efficiency of photovoltaics with sub-micron spatial resolution. The exciting electron beam results in a high generation rate density of electron-hole pairs, which may drive the system into nonlinear regimes. An analytic model is presented which describes the material response when the total electron-hole pair generation rate exceeds the rate at which carriers are extracted by the photovoltaic cell, and charge accumulation and screening occur. The model provides a simple estimate of the onset of high injection in terms of the material resistivity and thickness, and provides a straightforward way to predict the EBIC lineshape in the high injection regime. The model is verified by comparing its predictions to numerical simulations in 1 and 2 dimensions. Features of the experimental data, such as the magnitude and position of maximum collection efficiency versus electron beam current, are consistent with the 3 dimensional model.

Citation

Nanotechnology

Volume

26

Issue

29

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/26/29/295401

Citation

Haney, P. , Yoon, H. , Koirala, P. , Collins, R. and Zhitenev, N. (2015), Electron beam induced current in the high injection regime, Nanotechnology, [online], https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/26/29/295401 (Accessed October 12, 2025)