Versatile light-emitting-diode-based spectral response measurement system for photovoltaic device characterization

An absolute differential spectral response measurement system for solar cells is presented. The system couples an array of light emitting diodes with an optical waveguide to provide large area illumination. Two unique yet complementary measurement methods were developed and tested with the same measurement apparatus. Good agreement was observed between the two methods based on testing of a variety of solar cells. The first method is a lock-in technique that can be performed over a broad pulse frequency range. The second method is based on synchronous multifrequency optical excitation and electrical detection. An innovative scheme for providing light bias during each measurement method is discussed.     

Stability of the spectral responsivity of cryogenically cooled InSb infrared detectors

The spectral responsivity of two cryogenically cooled InSb detectors was observed to drift slowly with time. The origin of these drifts was investigated and was shown to occur due to a water-ice thin film that was deposited onto the active areas of the cold detectors. The presence of the ice film (which is itself a dielectric film) modifies the transmission characteristics of the antireflection coatings deposited on the active areas of the detectors, thus giving rise to the observed drifts. The magnitude of the drifts was drastically reduced by evacuating the detector dewars while baking them at 50 degrees C for approximately 48 h. All InSb detectors have antireflection coatings to reduce the Fresnel reflections and therefore enhance their spectral responsivity. This work demonstrates that InSb infrared detectors should be evacuated and baked at least annually and in some cases (depending on the quality of the dewar and the measurement uncertainty required) more frequently. These observations are particularly relevant to InSb detectors mounted in dewars that use rubber O rings since the ingress of moisture was found to be particularly serious in this type of dewar.     

Analytical solution for integrating sphere spectral efficiency inclusive of atmospheric attenuation

An analytical solution to the attenuation of flux within an integrating sphere due to spherical integrating source coating, exit port escape, and atmospheric absorption is derived employing a geometric probability distribution of completed sphere transits. This is used to determine the mean number of completed sphere transits and its variance. Equations that provide the attenuation ratios for the three extinction mechanisms are derived using the energy balance and summation of reflection methods. The mean length of a transit of the sphere and its variance are presented and used to derive expressions for the mean and variance of photon path lengths in the sphere.     

Comparison of absolute spectral irradiance responsivity measurement techniques using wavelength-tunable lasers

Independent methods for measuring the absolute spectral irradiance responsivity of detectors have been compared between the calibration facilities at two national metrology institutes, the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), Finland, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The emphasis is on the comparison of two different techniques for generating a uniform irradiance at a reference plane using wavelength-tunable lasers. At TKK's Laser Scanning Facility (LSF) the irradiance is generated by raster scanning a single collimated laser beam, while at the NIST facility for Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Responsivity Calibrations with Uniform Sources (SIRCUS), lasers are introduced into integrating spheres to generate a uniform irradiance at a reference plane. The laser-based irradiance responsivity results are compared to a traditional lamp-monochromator-based irradiance responsivity calibration obtained at the NIST Spectral Comparator Facility (SCF). A narrowband filter radiometer with a 24 nm bandwidth and an effective band-center wavelength of 801 nm was used as the artifact. The results of the comparison between the different facilities, reported for the first time in the near-infrared wavelength range, demonstrate agreement at the uncertainty level of less than 0.1%. This result has significant implications in radiation thermometry and in photometry as well as in radiometry.     

Homogeneity analysis in a Korte--Schmidt-type integrating gold sphere

Homogeneity measurements in a gold-coated integrating sphere at eight wavelengths in the range from 400 to 2000 nm are presented and discussed. The inner sphere wall was scanned with a mirror-based internal sphere scanner at 288 different positions. The spatially resolved measurements show the transition from poor reflectivity, associated with large inhomogeneities at 400 nm, to high reflectivity in the infrared region at 2000 nm, associated with only small deviations. From the measurements the spectrally dependent relative uncertainty of the radiance of the inner sphere wall was deduced. A spectrally dependent sphere homogeneity correction factor F(lambda) relative to a specific point within the sphere wall was also derived.     

Six-port integrating sphere photometer with uniform spatial response

We propose an integrating sphere photometer with six detection ports for total luminous flux measurement, which significantly improves the uniformity of spatial response compared to the conventional single-port detection design. Numerical simulations based on the geometric radiative transfer equation show that a spatial response distribution function of the new design is uniform within 2% with respect to all spatial directions. The related spatial mismatch error is calculated to be less than 0.3% for all the realistic cases of angular intensity distribution of a test lamp. As a result, the new design practically eliminates the spatial mismatch error of an integrating sphere photometer, so that a high-accuracy measurement can be achieved without the complicated spatial mismatch correction procedure.     

Thermoacoustic tomography with integrating area and line detectors

Thermoacoustic (optoacoustic, photoacoustic) tomography is based on the generation of acoustic waves by illumination of a sample with a short electromagnetic pulse. The absorption density inside the sample is reconstructed from the acoustic pressure measured outside the illuminated sample. So far measurement data have been collected with small detectors as approximations of point detectors. Here, a novel measurement setup applying integrating detectors (e.g., lines or planes made of piezoelectric films) is presented. That way, the pressure is integrated along one or two dimensions, enabling the use of numerically efficient algorithms, such as algorithms for the inverse radon transformation, for thermoacoustic tomography. To reconstruct a three-dimensional sample, either an area detector has to be moved tangential around a sphere that encloses the sample or an array of line detectors is rotated around a single axis. The line detectors can be focused on cross sections perpendicular to the rotation axis using a synthetic aperture (SAFT) or by scanning with a cylindrical lens detector. Measurements were made with piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride film detectors and evaluated by comparison with numerical simulations. The resolution achieved in the resulting tomography images is demonstrated on the example of the reconstructed cross section of a grape.     

Depolarization measurements of an integrating sphere

Mueller-matrix polarimetry performed in the visible and near IR indicates that an integrating sphere acts as an ideal depolarizer to the 0.5% accuracy of the polarimeter. The integrating sphere emits unpolarized light regardless of the incident polarization state.     

Lambertian radiance and transmission of an integrating sphere

The importance of Lambertian transmission, rather than total transmission, is argued and expressions for both are given. Exact expressions for output radiance are given in terms of both total sphere area and port area. A formula for choosing sphere size to give the maximum Lambertian transmission is developed. Port fractions in the range of 0.1-0.2 are recommended.     

Monte Carlo modeling of an integrating sphere reflectometer

The Monte Carlo method has been applied to numerical modeling of an integrating sphere designed for hemispherical-directional reflectance factor measurements. It is shown that a conventional algorithm of backward ray tracing used for estimation of characteristics of the radiation field at a given point has slow convergence for small source-to-sphere-diameter ratios. A newly developed algorithm that substantially improves the convergence by calculation of direct source-induced irradiation for every point of diffuse reflection of rays traced is described. The method developed is applied to an integrating sphere reflectometer for the visible and infrared spectral ranges. Parametric studies of hemispherical radiance distributions for radiation incident onto the sample center were performed. The deviations of measured sample reflectance from the actual reflectance as a result of various factors were computed. The accuracy of the results, adequacy of the reflectance model, and other important aspects of the algorithm implementation are discussed.     

Effects of non-Lambertian surfaces on integrating sphere measurements

The effects of non-Lambertian scattering of the interior wall of an integrating sphere are examined through a sphere simulation model. The model employs Monte Carlo techniques. A sphere used for measurement of directional-hemispherical reflectance is modeled. The simulation allows sphere wall scattering to vary from perfectly Lambertian to perfectly specular in steps. The results demonstrate that significant measurement error can result as the scattering deviates from the Lambertian ideal. The error is found to be a strong function of the wall reflectance value as well: it is minimized for reflectances approaching 1.0 and increases as the reflectance value decreases to the minimum value examined of 0.5. The magnitudes of the errors associated with non-Lambertian scattering are also shown to be relatively independent of the specific field of view of the detector used in the measurement.     

Study of bandwidth effects in monochromator-based spectral responsivity measurements

The errors caused by monochromator bandwidth in spectral responsivity measurements with a monochromator-based apparatus are discussed. Bandwidth effects are not negligible in high-accuracy cryogenic radiometer-based calibrations. A simple numerical method is used to calculate bandwidth effects for different types of detectors, monochromator slit scattering functions, and monochromator output spectral distributions. The method uses low-order Lagrange polynomials fitted segmentwise to measured spectral responsivity and monochromator spectral distribution data in order to make the calculations. It is shown that the shape of the slit function has only a small influence on the bandwidth errors, whereas the output spectral distribution of the monochromator can strongly affect bandwidth errors. It is also shown that in most cases the magnitude of bandwidth effects will vary as the square of the bandwidth. Bandwidth error calculations are presented for various types of detectors (silicon, silicon trap, germanium, InGaAs), for a V(X) detector, and for a typical filter radiometer. A comparison is made between calculated and measured bandwidth effects to validate the method used. In general, calculations of bandwidth effects will be mostly useful for determining uncertainties associated with monochromator bandwidth in spectral responsivity measurements; however, in certain cases the calculations can be used to apply corrections for such effects.     

Measurement of the spectral characteristics of silicon waveguide detectors in a wide spectral range

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 6, pp. 8–9, June, 1991.     

积分球出射辐照度的Monte Carlo模拟

应用Monte Carlo法原理,利用区间【0,1】上均匀分布的随机变量产生的均匀照度光源模型及光在积分球内表面的漫反射模型,用Matlab编程,对一积分球出口平面处及距出口100mm以内的10个平面上的辐射能量和辐照度进行了计算机模拟。模型共追迹了100000个光子,结果显示,随着传播距离的增大,辐射总能量不断衰减,小于积分球出口直径时辐照度的均匀性先减小然后又逐渐增强,大于积分球出口直径时辐照度的均匀性不断增强。整个平面上的辐照度随传播距离的增大逐渐趋于均匀。具有一定照度大小的大面积均匀辐射场只能在适当位置处获得。     

Sensitive trace gas detection with near-infrared laser diodes and an integrating sphere

We describe a simple spectrometer for sensitive trace gas detection in the atmosphere. A communication laser diode is used as a light source, and a commercial integrating sphere is used as a multipass absorption cell. We developed a theoretical formulation of the relative absorption of the optical power by trace gases in the sphere and applied it to two kinds of experimental result: one that is concerned with a structureless broad absorption band of butane with the use of a 1.2-μm multimode laser diode, and one that is related to the study of an isolated and sharp rovibrational line of water vapor in air at atmospheric pressure with the use of an 830-nm single-mode laser diode. With equivalent path lengths of several meters obtained with a 10-cm-i.d. integrating sphere we can demonstrate the usefulness of such a device as a broadband multipass cell for the measurement of small absorptions.     

Optimization of photovoltaic measurement systems

A comparative analysis of the most promising photovoltaic systems for the measurement of linear and angular quantities is presented. It is shown that by means of such a comparison it becomes possible to optimize a measurement system with respect to individual elements and converters as well as with respect to circuit designs so as to increase the performance and precision characteristics.     

Analysis of a capacitively loaded photovoltaic cell as a circuitpower source

An analysis is presented of important, often competing, variables in an optical to electrical (O-E) converter unit. One result describes the nonlinear dependency of output voltage as a function of capacitor load. The charging time as a function of photocurrent, cell saturation current, and load capacitor is illustrated. A particular system, the optically pulsed powered converter unit, is detailed as a design example     

Private life of an integrating sphere: the radiant homogeneity of the Descent Imager-Spectral Radiometer calibration sphere

Perturbations to an integrating sphere's radiant uniformity by a protruding optical system are mapped. A sphere provides the Descent Imager-Spectral Radiometer sensor head (DISR SH), a practical platform for many of its subsystems' calibrations, but the resulting nonuniformity threatens the goal of accurate radiometry. An apparatus with a nearly identical shape is built to measure the radiance variations. The radiance field is found to be very homogeneous (0-2% variations) over two-thirds of the sphere's surface area, with larger excursions near the SH, away from active fields of view. This provides an accurate platform to transfer absolute calibrations.