Fabrication of CIGS nanoparticle-ink using ball milling technology for applied in CIGS thin films solar cell

Abstract

Abstract A copper–indium–gallium–diselenide layer was formed from the binary-alloy nanoparticles of In 2 Se 3 , Ga 2 Se 3 , and CuSe. Copper–indium–gallium–diselenide thin films were fabricated using the precursor nanoparticle-ink based on non-vacuum technology. The ink was fabricated by a ball milling procedure and the size of agglomerated copper–indium–gallium–diselenide powder after milling was less than 100 nm. Crystallographic, morphological, stoichiometric, and photovoltaic properties of the films were characterized by sintering the precursor copper–indium–gallium–diselenide samples with different holding times in a non-vacuum environment without selenization. Analytical results indicate that the copper–indium–gallium–diselenide absorption layer prepared with a holding time of 7.5 min has a chalcopyrite structure and favorable compositions. The obtained compositions of the sample are Cu 0.976 In 0.811 Ga 0.277 Se 1.935 , and the ratios of Ga/(In + Ga) and Cu/(In + Ga) are 0.254 and 0.896, respectively. The photovoltaic properties of this sample are E g of 1.185 eV, V oc of 0.643 V, N ds of 1.3 × 10 15 cm − 3 , and Ga of 0.277 mol, respectively.