Researchers at LMU have developed a new method for
visualizing material defects in thin-film solar cells.
An LMU research team led by Bert Nickel has, for the first
time, succeeded in functionally characterizing the active layer in organic
thin-film solar cells using laser light for localized excitation of the
material. The findings are reported in the scientific journal “Advanced
Materials”. “We have developed a method in which the material is raster-scanned
with a laser, while the focused beam is modulated in different ways, by means
of a rotating attenuator for instance. This enables us to map directly the spatial
distribution of defects in organic thin films, a feat which has not previously
been achieved,” explains Christian Westermeier, who is first author of the new
study.