Photovoltaic Noise in Silicon Broad Area p-n Junctions

Abstract

This paper discusses certain of the noise characteristics of silicon broad area junctions which have been developed for use for solar energy conversion. Under constant illumination the photovoltaic output of these junctions has been found to show fluctuations which are characteristic of a 1/f noise power spectrum. For varying illumination the magnitude of the photovoltaic noise voltage has been found to vary considerably, and in fact passes through a pronounced maximum. A plausible explanation of this effect is obtained by assuming that fluctuations are produced in the primary photocurrent as a result of traversing the junction. The assumption of a current dependent noise mechanism is justified by an independent experiment.