High Speed Detection of Hotspots in Photovoltaic and Optoelectronic Devices 
Photovoltaic cell manufacturing today dispositions cells at end-of-line based on current output and resistance. No knowledge of the manufacturing process that created the specific cell performance is learned, nor is it understood whether the variations in current and resistivity are caused by macro or localized effects. Solar cell manufacturers know that device performance can be compromised due to the presence of electrically active defects that create current shunts. These shunts may be induced at various points in the manufacturing process – poor initial crystalline quality, contact over firing, surface conduction at crack boundaries, trace metal deposition at the cell edge, etc. To improve end-of-line yield and move more cells to higher performance bins it is necessary to continuously reduce the shunt defect population, but an equally significant factor is long-term field reliability.
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