Effective lifetime of minority carriers in black silicon nano-textured by cones and pyramids

Abstract

We calculated the dependence of effective lifetime of minority carriers in black silicon nano-textured by cones and pyramids on the diameter of the cone base, the side of the pyramid base, the height of cone and pyramid. The numerical calculation shows that n-type polished plate of single crystal silicon and n-type plate of black silicon have a high minority carrier lifetime both in the bulk and on the silicon surface, indicating a high purity of both the bulk of silicon and its surface. However, the measured experimentally effective lifetime of minority carriers in the n-type black silicon is 1.55 ms and is determined by the surface lifetime. The measured effective lifetime of minority charge carriers in the p-type polished silicon is 1.24 ms. The minority carrier lifetime in the bulk of the polished p-type silicon is lower than the surface one.

Keywords

• effective minority carrier lifetime
• excess minority carrier
• black silicon