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Testing and Evaluation: Failure Analysis, Materials and Diagnostics

Numerous DOE-funded testing and evaluation capabilities are available for public use on a no-fee basis, including capabilities at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), and the Southeast and Southwest Regional Experiment Stations (SERES and SWRES). The following table lists capabilities related to failure analysis, materials, and diagnostics and provides links for obtaining more information. To inquire about capabilities at DOE-funded facilities, see the contacts page.

Descriptor Description of Capability
(including Web links)		 Specific tests/measurements/characterizations
NREL Infrared Camera, Cell and Module shunt diagnostics 1) 320 X 256 FPA InSb, 0.2°C NEDT, (2) 320 X 256 FPA (Pt):Si, 1.0°C NEDT, portable, (3) Lock-in shunt measurement technique.
www.nrel.gov/pv/performance_reliability		 Hot-spot diagnostics.
Individual cell shunt values in a series-connected module.
NREL Packaging Materials Testing Rheometer, Instron Pull Tester, and Mocon WVTR Systems, Laminator, NREL Damp Heat and a CI-4000 Sample preparation and mechanical properties testing of packaging materials, pull-strengths of interfaces, and water vapor transmission rates of backsheets and encapsulants.
www.nrel.gov/pv/performance_reliability		 Modulus (T, frequency dependencies).
Shear, butt, and peel strengths up to 200°C.
WVTR to 100% rh and 85°C.
Laminator samples up to 20 in x 20 in with programmable T-profile.
Controlled humidity, T, and illumination control for weathering exposure.
NREL Silicon Materials and Devices Evaluations of cell production and fabrication technologies. Czochralski crystal growth and wafer preparation, including ingot growth, slicing, lapping and polishing for determination of feedstock material quality in producing quality wafers and testing crucible materials.
Fabrication and test of diffused junction and heterojunction solar cells; determination of wafer (or feedstock) quality in producing PV cells.
SUNS-Voc testing of solar cells; contactless determination of I-V and efficiency potential of junction PV devices.
Spreading resistance measurement; determination of doping profiles in wafer Si samples.
Radio-frequency and Microwave Photoconductive Decay lifetime measurement; determine silicon material electronic quality for solar cell devices.
Transient capacitance decay, photocapacitance and drive level measurements from 90-420 K; measurement of defect densities and trap depths in PV materials.
Hall, Seebeck, Nernst and Resistivity measurements from 30-350 K; determination of key transport coefficients including effective mass, by method of 4 coefficients.
Light-soaking station up to 30 x 30 cm2 using metal-halogen source; determination of stability of a-Si and thin-Si materials and devices.
Light-soaking station up to 20 x 20 cm2 using ELH source; determination of stability of a-Si and thin-Si materials and devices.
Combinatorial transient conductivity measurement with automated probe transport; determine resistivity and I-V of combinatorial arrays of materials and device samples on 5 x 5 cm2 platforms.
Constant photoconductivity method determination of absorption constants vs. wavelength down to 102 cm-2; determine thin film subgap defect densities.
Rapid (< 1 sec) determination of reflectance and transmission from 200 - 1,000 nm; determine optical gaps, optical constants and thickness of thin film materials.
NREL High Performance and III-V Solar Cells Systems for measuring lattice properties of epitaxial layers and quantum efficiency/reflectivity of solar cells with LED bias light, yielding internal quantum efficiency of series-connected, multijunction solar cells. Double-crystal x-ray diffractometer to measure lattice constants and strain relaxation in epitaxially grown layers; rocking mode x-ray diffraction and reciprocal space mapping.
Rapid measurement of light I-V curves under variable spectra; individual junction characterization.
NREL Combinatorial High-Throughput Tools Techniques for measuring:
  • Simultaneous reflection transmission
  • Conductivity mapping
  • Spectroscopy
  • X-ray structure.
 Simultaneous Reflection Transmission (0.2-2.5 µm) - rapid position sensitive scanning R/T system for optical characterization; reflection and transmission coupled with modeling to measure optical properties of materials as a function of position.
Conductivity Mapping - 4- probe conductivity mapping system; maps conductivity and is linked to the optical system above.
Infrared spectroscopy - mapping infrared adsorption or reflections out to > 20 µm; data and positioning are correlated with the tools above and can be used to determine the plasma edge etc.
Micro-Raman spectroscopy - 3 wavelength scanning micro-Raman capability; structural analysis indexes with the techniques above and Raman at three widely spaced wavelengths.
X-Ray Structure Mapping - ToolBruker Axis 2D x-ray system capable of structural mapping and variable temp XRD; XRD mapping of phase information also indexed to other tools.
NREL Thin Films Research Instrument systems for optical defect analysis, XRD analysis, Raman spectroscopy, surface area measurement, NMR, ESR, elemental analysis, thermal, corrosion, and electrical property measurements. Optical Defect Analysis - Optical Imaging tools for defect analysis; defects and corrosion analysis to both image and analyze defects size and distribution.
XRD analysis - Scintag XRD systems for powder pattern and single crystal structure determination.
Raman Spectroscopy - Multiple wavelength, automated Raman capability.
BET/scattering surface area measurements - surface area measurement using N2 adsorption or laser light scattering.
NMR - Multi-nucleus solid state NMR capability.
ESR - electron spin resonance for solid state materials; for relatively non-conductive materials and semiconductors.
ICP elemental analysis - Solution-based chemical analysis for bulk and trace elements materials dissolved in acid media.
TGA/DTA - Systems for thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis; sequential or simultaneous tests on small samples.
Electrochemical/corrosion measurements, multichannel characterization system capable of near combinatorial application; multiple channel PAR and Arbin electrochemical systems computerized and three electrode; I-V, corrosion potential, C-V and impedance measurement.
Varian spectrophotometer - Ultraviolet, visible and near-infra-red spectrophotometer; measuring reflectance, transmittance and absorbance.
NREL Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometers (SIMS) Laboratory SIMS techniques used to analyze the surface of a material or determine the depth distribution of elements as the primary ion beam sputters through a material.
www.nrel.gov/pv/measurements/surface_analysis.html		 Cameca IMS-5F and Cameca IMS-3F (SIMS): Full Periodic Table analysis of trace elements, dopants and contaminants, multiple-source depth profiling, mass scans, secondary-ion imaging, isotopic information, ppm-ppb atomic sensitivity.
ION-TOF IV Time-of-Flight SIMS: Surface molecular and elemental analysis, mass range to >10,000 amu, full Periodic Table, multiple-source depth profiling, ppm-ppb surface sensitivity.
NREL Analytical Microscopy Laboratories Analytical tools and imaging to characterize materials and devices for their topographical, defect, structural, compositional, electrical, and luminescent properties.
Novel techniques for analyses and basic materials studies.
www.nrel.gov/pv/measurements/analytical_microscopy.html		 Phillips CM30 Transmission Electron Microscope, FEI F20 Field-Emission Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope: analyzing crystallinity, defect properties, microstructure and chemical properties.
Analytical probe size down to 2 Å.
Resolution down to 1.4 Å.
JEOL 5800 Analytical Scanning Electron Microscope, and JEOL 6320F Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope: investigating morphology, surface structure, crystallographic mapping (EBSD), chemical composition (EDS), microelectrical properties (EBIC) and luminescent properties (cathodoluminescence).
Electron-Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), JEOL JXA 8900-with EDS and WDS spectrometers: Full capabilities of quantitative compositional measurements down to 0.5 atomic percent.
FEI Nova 200 Dual-Beam Focused Ion Beam Work Station: Preparing site-specific samples for TEM and SEM examination. Fabricating nanostructures and nano-machining.
Veeco Dimension 3100 Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM); Omicron VT-Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)/AFM: Nanoscale characterization of sample morphology and electrical properties, including close-loop tip positioning. Conductive-AFM, Scanning Kelvin probe microscopy, scanning capacitance microscopy.
NREL Electro-Optical Laboratory Electrical and optical experimental techniques to examine many fundamental properties of materials. Primary techniques and capabilities include:
  • Photoluminescence spectroscopy
  • Minority-carrier lifetime spectroscopy
  • Fourier-transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy
  • Spectroscopic ellipsometry
  • Capacitance techniques
  • Scanning defect mapping.
www.nrel.gov/pv/measurements/electro_optical.html		 Photoluminescence Spectroscopy (PL, FT-PL): Determining bandgap, impurity levels, recombination mechanisms, defect identification.
Minority-Carrier Lifetime Spectroscopy (TRPL, RCPCD, and others): Determining minority-carrier lifetime, dominant recombination mechanisms.
Fourier-Transform Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy (FTIR, FT-Raman): Providing information on composition, impurity concentration, local environment, carrier concentration.
Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE, VASE, and RTSE): Determining film thickness, crystallinity, composition, roughness, temperature, optical, electronic properties.
Capacitance Spectroscopy (C-V, DLTS):
Determining free-carrier concentration, defect-state parameters.
Scanning Defect Mapping and Reflectance Spectroscopy (PVScan, PV Reflectometer): Determining dislocations, grain boundaries, photovoltaic response, minority-carrier diffusion length, surface roughness, other device properties.
Computational Modeling: Simulating electro-optical experiments and solar cell devices.
Technique Development: Creating new experimental techniques and in-line diagnostic for PV industry.
NREL Surface Analysis Laboratory Surface analysis to determine the chemical, elemental, and molecular composition of material surfaces and interfaces.
www.nrel.gov/pv/measurements/surface_analysis.html		 Physical Electronics PHI 670 Field-Emission Scanning Auger Microscopy (FE-SAM):
Determining surface elemental composition Li-U, depth-profile analysis, high spatial resolution elemental mapping, line-scan analysis.
Physical Electronics PHI 5600 X-Ray and Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS/UPS): Determining chemical state, surface elemental composition Li-U, angle-resolved measurements, work-function measurements, surface electronic structure.
Surface Analysis Cluster Tool—integrated analysis, growth, and processing platform that combines FE-AES, XPS/UPS, thin-film deposition chamber equipped with in-situ characterization, inert atmosphere wet-processing station, ultra-high-vacuum transfer between all systems. Full capabilities include thin-film reaction kinetics, in-situ growth capabilities, controlled sample heating, desorption studies by thermal desorption mass spectrometry, in-situ chemical processing under controlled ambient.