Electrical activity of grain boundaries in CdTe solar cell
Data courtesy of Dr. J. Poplawsky, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Electrical activity of grain boundaries in CdTe solar cell

(a) Quantitative EBIC contrast map from the cross section of a CdTe/CdS solar cell after CdCl2 and Cu treatment; the intensity scale shows the EBIC contrast number (EBIC current normalized by the electron beam current). Higher current collection is observed along the CdTe random grain boundaries, whereas most [111] S3 grain boundaries exhibit little or no increased current collection; (b) EBSD normal-direction inverse pole figure (color) and quality (intensity) map; (c) Secondary electron image with the [111] S3 and random grain boundaries highlighted in red and black respectively.
The EBIC image collected using electron beam with 3 keV beam energy and 50 pA beam current. Sample cross-section prepared using Ilion+ argon milling tool producing a topographically flat surface suitable for EBIC and EBSD analysis.