Illumination-induced errors associated with suns-V(OC) measurements of silicon solar cells.

I(SC)-V(OC) curves measured by the suns-V(OC) method are widely used for solar cell characterization due to its being unaffected by series resistance effects. A common setup for this measurement system uses a xenon photoflash for illumination purposes, resulting in a fast acquisition of the suns-V(OC) measurement data during the decaying edge of one flash. However, the use of a xenon photoflash accompanies also several disadvantages. Measurement errors are expected from the imperfect illumination homogeneity on the measurement stage. Also the discrepancy of the flash spectrum compared to the standard AM 1.5G spectrum leads to spectral mismatch between the sample and monitor cells when their spectral response differs. In addition, the divergence of the flash light leads to different illumination densities on the sample and the monitor cell if the height of these two cells differs. In this article these photoflash-caused measurement errors are investigated in detail, analyzing the resulting deviation in illumination density. The error due to an inhomogeneous illumination is negligible under most circumstances, while the error due to a spectral mismatch has to be considered but can be reduced drastically if an additional short-pass filter is used. The measurement error due to different cell highs should be taken into account but can be accounted for using an analytical correction.

Protein-modified nanocrystalline diamond thin films for biosensor applications.

Diamond exhibits several special properties, for example good biocompatibility and a large electrochemical potential window, that make it particularly suitable for biofunctionalization and biosensing. Here we show that proteins can be attached covalently to nanocrystalline diamond thin films. Moreover, we show that, although the biomolecules are immobilized at the surface, they are still fully functional and active. Hydrogen-terminated nanocrystalline diamond films were modified by using a photochemical process to generate a surface layer of amino groups, to which proteins were covalently attached. We used green fluorescent protein to reveal the successful coupling directly. After functionalization of nanocrystalline diamond electrodes with the enzyme catalase, a direct electron transfer between the enzyme's redox centre and the diamond electrode was detected. Moreover, the modified electrode was found to be sensitive to hydrogen peroxide. Because of its dual role as a substrate for biofunctionalization and as an electrode, nanocrystalline diamond is a very promising candidate for future biosensor applications.