Abstract:
Solar cell technologies have attracted great attention considering their potential to meet the global
energy demand in a sustainable fashion. There have been extensive research efforts to increase the
efficiency of conventional and newly developed photovoltaic (PV) materials, while looking for new
candidates to maximize the solar conversion efficiency. In this direction, advanced characterization tools
capable of analysing material properties multi-dimensionally are continuously being developed, enabling
researchers to fundamentally understand various aspects of material properties. This has equipped
researchers with various tools to simultaneously engineer the structural, morphological, electrical,
chemical and optical properties of materials to improve the performance of devices. Herein, we present
the recent advances in the development of multidimensional characterization tools capable of probing
material properties with high spatial, energy and temporal resolution simultaneously. Numerous
advantages associated with mapping material properties under in situ/operando conditions to unveil
various aspects of material properties in parallel are disclosed. In addition, the integration of various
characterization tools to visualize the evolution of carrier dynamics under the influence of various
external stimuli is discussed in detail. Together with discussing the advantages of multidimensional
mapping tools over conventional tools, various outlooks for realizing next-generation characterization
tools are provided to facilitate the commercialization and development of next-generation solar cell
modules.
