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Advanced Energy and Decarbonisation Office (AEDO)

Method For Luminescence Characterisation Of Optoelectronic Materials And Devices Based On Modulated Optical Excitation

1 October 2026

Affiliation

NUS

Focus topic

Solar

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Summary

This invention provides a fast, contactless, luminescence-based characterisation method for semiconductor devices — particularly perovskite and tandem solar cells — using sinusoidally modulated optical excitation. Phase and/or modulation changes between the excitation beam and the emitted photoluminescence signal are analysed to extract spatially resolved, quantitative carrier lifetime data. The system supports both microscopic and wide-field imaging configurations and is applicable at all manufacturing stages.

Key Achievements:

  1. Speed & Scalability — Measurements completed in seconds, enabling both in-depth lab analysis and high-throughput industrial production screening.

  2. Metallization-Compatible — Carrier lifetime can be measured even when devices are partially or fully covered by opaque metal contacts or optical layers, overcoming a key limitation of existing QSSPC methods.

  3. Tandem Sub-Cell Separation — Demonstrated independent characterisation of perovskite top-cell and silicon bottom-cell in a tandem device using differently modulated optical beams (150 kHz–160 MHz for perovskite; 100 Hz–100 kHz for silicon), with imaging results confirming detection of silicon pyramid tips and perovskite coverage uniformity.

What makes this novel compared to best-in-class technology?

Uses modulated optical excitation to extract quantitative carrier lifetime via phase/modulation analysis — works on both metallized and non-metallized devices, and can separately probe individual sub-cells in tandem configurations (e.g., perovskite/Si), unlike existing steady-state or time-resolved PL methods.

Current TRL

4-6

Relevant for

Perovskite & perovskite/Si tandem solar cell manufacturers, silicon PV device fabrication facilities, semiconductor R&D laboratories (III-V, CdTe, CIGS, CZTS materials)

About

NUS logo

Inventors: Puqun Wang, Kwan Bum Choi, Stella Hadiwidjaja, Jian Wei Ho

Affiliation: National University of Singapore (NUS), Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)

Contact NUS for licensing opportunities and more information.

Please quote ID ref [2022-238] in your email.