CuIn1-xGaxSe2 Solar Cells Research Articles

Ablation and spectroscopic characteristics of thin CuIn1-xGaxSe2 solar cell films fabricated by co-evaporation and co-sputtering processes

The influence of fabrication processes on the LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) spectra of major and minor chemical constituents in CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS) absorber films produced by co-sputtering and co-evaporation techniques on Mo-coated soda lime glass (SLG) is reported. It was found that the ablation rate per pulse of CIGS layers fabricated by the co-sputtering technique is higher than those fabricated by the co-evaporation technique, resulting in higher LIBS signal intensities of the constituent elements. The examination of surface morphology of irradiated surfaces and changes in LIBS signal intensities revealed evidences of elemental fractionation for the CIGS films fabricated by co-sputtering technique but not for those by co-evaporation technique. From x-ray diffraction measurements, it was confirmed that the differences in the ablation and spectroscopic characteristics of the two different types of CIGS absorber films were contributed to the differences in crystalline properties. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that LIBS can effectively determine a depth profile of sodium concentration in CIGS thin films, diffused from SLG.

Depth profiling analysis of CuIn_1-xGa_xSe_2 absorber layer by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in atmospheric conditions

This work reports the capability of depth profile analysis of thin CuIn1-xGa(x)Se2 (CIGS) absorber layer (1.89 μm) with a sub-hundred nanometer resolution by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The LIBS analysis was carried out with a commercial CIGS solar cell on flexible substrate by using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (λ = 532 nm, τ = 5 ns, top-hat profile) and an intensified charge-coupled device spectrometer in atmospheric conditions. The measured LIBS elemental profiles across the CIGS layer agreed closely to those measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. The resolution of depth profile analysis was about 88 nm. Owing to the short measurement time of LIBS and the capability of in-air measurement, it is expected that LIBS can be applied for in situ analysis of elemental composition and their distribution across the film thickness during development and manufacturing of CIGS solar cells.

Electrodeposition of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 solar cells with a periodically-textured surface for efficient light collection

The photoresponse of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGS) solar cells is improved using a periodically-textured structure as an antireflection layer. The CIGS absorber layers were prepared by one-step electrodeposition from an aqueous solution containing 12mM CuSO4, 25mM In2(SO4)3, 28mM Ga2(SO4)3, and 25mM SeO2. The electrodeposited CIGS films exhibit the (112)-preferred orientation of the chalcopyrite structures and feature improved film stoichiometry after the selenization process. In addition, the lower bandgap value of 0.97eV is caused by the discrepancy of the reduction potentials for each constituent, resulting in insufficient Ga content in the deposited films. Using self-assembled silica nanoparticles as the etching mask, periodically-textured structures can be easily formed on an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated soda lime glass to achieve a low average reflection (<10.5%) in a wide wavelength and incident angle range. With the periodic textured structures suppressing light reflections from the front surface, the photogenerated current in the semi-transparent CIGS solar cells made with transparent conducting electrodes is 1.82 times higher than they otherwise would be.

Nd:YAG laser ablation characteristics of thin CIGS solar cell films

This work reports that the ablation characteristics of thin CuIn1−x Ga x Se2 (CIGS) solar cell film differ significantly with elemental composition and laser pulse energy. From in situ shadowgraphs measured during Nd:YAG laser (1,064 nm) irradiation of CIGS films and crater morphologies, it was found that strong surface evaporation is dominant for low Ga concentration films of which band gap is well below the photon energy. As the band gap of CIGS film becomes close to or over the laser photon energy due to increased Ga content, surface absorption diminishes and at low laser energy, laser heating of the film plays an important role. It is demonstrated that for the CIGS films with Ga/(Ga + In) ratio being approximately over 0.2, the laser irradiation leads to solid phase removal of the film due to thermomechanical fracture at low laser energy but to ablative evaporation at elevated energy.

Fabrication and centeracterization of ordered CuIn(1−x)Ga x Se2 nanopore films via template-based electrodeposition

Ordered CuIn(1−x)GaxSe2 (CIGS) nanopore films were prepared by one-step electrodeposition based on porous anodized aluminum oxide templates. The as-grown film shows a highly ordered morphology that reproduces the surface pattern of the substrate. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction pattern show that CIGS nanopore films had ideal chalcopyrite crystallization. Energy dispersive spectroscopy reveals the Cu-Se phases firstly formed in initial stage of growth. Then, indium and gallium were incorporated in the nanopore films in succession. Cu-Se phase is most likely to act as a growth promoter in the growth progress of CIGS nanopore films. Due to the high surface area and porous structure, this kind of CIGS films could have potential application in light-trapping CIGS solar cells and photoelectrochemical water splitting.

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Intrinsic ZnO (i-ZnO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering for exploring the effects of the deposition conditions. These films were optically, electrically, and structurally characterized. Results showed that the properties of i-ZnO thin films changed with the changing of deposition conditions. These i-ZnO films were also integrated into CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGS) solar cells. It was found that the incorporation of an i-ZnO layer in CIGS solar cells led to a significant improvement of homogeneity and efficiency of CIGS solar cells. An increment of 1.71% was gained in the average cell efficiency through adjusting the deposition conditions of i-ZnO layers. Detailed analysis showed that there was no improvement in cell efficiency under the deposition conditions favorable for growing the i-ZnO films. These results indicate that there should be a balance among the optimized performance of each layer deposited for high quality multi-layer devices.

Influence of shunt conduction on determining the dominant recombination processes in CIGS thin-film solar cells

We investigated the transport and photovoltaic properties of Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells. The shunt-current-eliminated diode current could be obtained from the current–voltage characteristics by subtracting the parasitic shunt leakage current from the total current. The temperature dependence of the open-circuit voltage, extracted from the shunt-eliminated (total) current, suggested that the recombination activation energy is comparable to (much less than) the CIGS bandgap. The low-temperature characteristics of the diode ideality factor supported bulk-dominated recombination in the same cell. This suggests that shunt-current subtraction can provide the proper diode parameters of CIGS solar cells.

Two-step selenization of Cu-In-Ga precursors for CIGS thin-film solar cells by using a Se cracker

Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells have been fabricated using the CIGS compound prepared with a two-step selenization process at 400 °C followed by successive thermal annealing at 550 °C. The compositions of the Cu-In-Ga precursors were controlled by changing the thickness ratio of the Cu-In and the Cu-Ga films. After the selenization, the thickness of the CIGS film was approximately three times that of the precursor layer. X-ray diffraction peaks showed that the CIGS had the chalcopyrite structure with a preferential orientation in the (112) direction. The composition analysis using X-ray fluorescence revealed that the Cu/[III] and the Ga/[III] ratios of CIGS changed in ranges of 0.66 ∼ 0.80 and 0.11 ∼ 0.20, respectively, with variations in the precursor thickness. We obtained a power conversion efficiency of 3.91% from the fabricated CIGS solar cell.

Thickness study of Al:ZnO film for application as a window layer in Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 thin film solar cell

Structural, electrical and optical properties of Al doped ZnO (Al:ZnO) thin film of various thicknesses, grown by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system were studied in relation to the application as a window layer in Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cell. It was found that the electrical and structural properties of Al:ZnO film improved with increasing its thickness, however, the optical properties degraded. The short circuit current density, Jsc of the fabricated CIGS based solar cells was significantly influenced by the variation of the Al:ZnO window layer thickness. Best efficiency was obtained when CIGS solar cell was fabricated with electrically and optically optimized Al:ZnO window layer.

CIGS absorbers and processes

AbstractThe current status and future perspectives of Cu(In1−xGax)Se2(CIGS) solar cells and modules will be discussed in this paper. The conversion efficiencies of the state of the art laboratory‐scale CIGS solar cells exceeded 20%, which are comparable to those of crystalline Si solar cells. The requirements on the properties of CIGS absorbers to achieve such high efficiencies will be described. The CIGS modules are already commercially available based on two major CIGS deposition techniques such as co‐evaporation and selenization. The current status, problems, and prospects of co‐evaporation and selenization will also be discussed. High‐efficiency flexible CIGS solar cells with efficiencies similar to those fabricated on soda–lime glass (SLG) substrates have been achieved by developing a novel Na incorporation technique. Critical issues to demonstrate high‐efficiency flexible solar cells will also be discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Grain Boundary Evaluation of Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 Solar Cells

The grain boundary (GB) properties of polycrystalline Cu(In1-x,Gax)Se2 (CIGS) have been characterized using electron beam-induced current (EBIC) measurements, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) patterns, and scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM) measurements. The polished cross section of CIGS solar cells was evaluated by these three methods, and the surface EBIC image was obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A combination of the EBIC and EBSD techniques makes it possible to investigate the effect of the GBs on the minority carrier collection. Furthermore, the SSRM mapping enables the analysis of grain-by-grain carrier profiling by measuring the spreading resistance of CIGS solar cells. It was found from these results that the twin boundaries of CIGS grains do not contribute to carrier recombination. Furthermore, the brighter EBIC signals were observed at the GBs of CIGS, which showed that the produced electron–hole pairs easily separate from each other and that the minority carriers are repelled from the GBs. This remarkable property of the GBs is suitable for application of CIGS to solar cells.

Simulating material inhomogeneities and defects in CIGS thin‐film solar cells

AbstractThin‐film CIGS solar cells are simulated using a hybrid model consisting of a distributed form of the analytical one diode model paired with a numerical finite element model of the d.c. conduction in the front contact layers. Variations in material quality over the substrate surface, from measured J–V curves, are incorporated into the model and the effects of cell width and window layer thickness are evaluated for homogeneous and inhomogeneous material quality. Furthermore, the effects of discrete shunt defects of different sizes are modelled, and in different positions on the cell surface. The results from optimizing cell width and window layer thickness show that the effects of material inhomogeneities include a small shift of the optimal parameters together with a less pronounced maximum. As expected, the defect size is important to the shunt conductance parameter of the resulting J–V curves. The passivating effect of the highly resistive ZnO layer is confirmed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Influence from front contact sheet resistance on extracted diode parameters in CIGS solar cells

AbstractThe extraction of one‐diode model parameters from a current–voltage (J–V) curve is problematic, since the model is one‐dimensional while real devices are indeed three‐dimensional. The parameters obtained by fitting the model curve to experimental data depend on how the current is collected, and more specifically the geometry of the contact. This is due to the non‐uniform lateral current flow in the window layers, which leads to different parts of the device experiencing different front contact voltage drop, and hence different operating points on the ideal J–V curve. In this work, finite element simulations of three‐dimensional contact structures are performed and compared to experimental data on Cu(In,Ga)Se2‐based solar cell devices. It is concluded that the lateral current flow can influence the extracted parameters from the one‐diode model significantly if the resistivity of the front contact material is high, or if there is no current collecting grid structure. These types of situations may appear in damp heat‐treated cells and module type cells, respectively. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Study of Recombination in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells by Time-Resolved Photoluminescence

AbstractTime-resolved PL (TR-PL) measurements have been carried out on Cu(In1-x,Gax)Se2 (CIGS) thin films and solar cells to study the recombination of photo-generated minority carriers . Room temperature PL of both CIGS thin films and solar cells exhibited band-to-band transition for alloy composition x of 0-0.4, and PL decay curves have been utilized as a measure of carrier lifetime. The solar cell fabrication leads to the enhancement of band-to-band PL intensity, reduction of defect-related PL, and increase of PL decay time. It is noted that the increase in PL decay time has been observed in CIGS films after CBD-CdS deposition. Solar cells with high conversion efficiency are characterized by both high PL intensity and long PL decay time. The PL decay curve of CIGS solar cell is studied in terms of the alloy composition x. For small x, PL decay times of CIGS solar cells are almost independent of the emission photon energy. For large x, PL decay time depended on PL emission energy. he result suggests the change of the recombination mechanism in the CIGS solar cells with the change in the alloy composition x.

Fabrication of wide-gap Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 thin film solar cells: a study on the correlation of cell performance with highly resistive i-ZnO layer thickness

Abstract The correlation of the cell performance of wide-gap Cu(In1−xGax)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells with the thickness of highly resistive i-ZnO layers, which are commonly introduced between the buffer layer and the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer in CIGS solar cell devices, was studied. It was found that cell parameters, in particular, the fill factor (F.F.) varied with the thickness of the i-ZnO layers and the variation of the F.F. was directly related to cell efficiency. A 16%-efficiency was achieved without use of an anti-reflection coating from wide-gap (Eg∼1.3 eV) CIGS solar cells by adjusting the deposition conditions of the i-ZnO layers.

Interface Investigation of ZnO/CdS/CuIn1−xGaxSe2/Mo Solar Cells

ABSTRACTGraded-band-gap CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGS) absorbers with Ga/Ga+In value in the 20%-30% range have a demonstrated efficiency of 18.8%. For CdS-containing devices, the shortcircuit current density (Jsc) has almost reached its expected maximum. However, the open-circuit voltage of CIGS solar cells is limited by the surface microstructure and chemistry. In this work, we examine the microstructural properties and chemistry of CIGS. We also attempted to correlate the above observations and device performance.