The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
May. 26, 1998

Filed:

Jun. 28, 1995
Applicant:
Inventors:

Bhushan L Sopori, Denver, CO (US);

Larry C Allen, Arvada, CO (US);

Craig Marshall, Littleton, CO (US);

Robert C Murphy, Golden, CO (US);

Todd Marshall, Littleton, CO (US);

Assignee:

Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, MO (US);

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
356 72 ; 356 30 ; 356237 ; 356446 ;
Abstract

A method and apparatus for measuring characteristics of a piece of material, typically semiconductor materials including photovoltaic devices. The characteristics may include dislocation defect density, grain boundaries, reflectance, external LBIC, internal LBIC, and minority carrier diffusion length. The apparatus includes a light source, an integrating sphere, and a detector communicating with a computer. The measurement or calculation of the characteristics is calibrated to provide accurate, absolute values. The calibration is performed by substituting a standard sample for the piece of material, the sample having a known quantity of one or more of the relevant characteristics. The quantity measured by the system of the relevant characteristic is compared to the known quantity and a calibration constant is created thereby.


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