Reducing interface recombination for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 by atomic layer deposited buffer layers

Hultqvist, Adam; Li, Jian V.; Kuciauskas, Darius; Dippo, Patricia; Contreras, Miguel A.; Levi, Dean H.; Bent, Stacey F.

doi:10.1063/1.4927096

Title: Reducing interface recombination for Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ by atomic layer deposited buffer layers

Journal Article · Thu Jul 23 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927096· OSTI ID:1370025

Hultqvist, Adam ^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[2];

^[2]; Dippo, Patricia ^[2]; Contreras, Miguel A. ^[2]; Levi, Dean H. ^[2]; Bent, Stacey F. ^[1]

Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Partial CuInGaSe₂ (CIGS) solar cell stacks with different atomic layer deposited buffer layers and pretreatments were analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) and capacitance voltage (CV) measurements to investigate the buffer layer/CIGS interface. Atomic layer deposited ZnS, ZnO, and SnO_x buffer layers were compared with chemical bath deposited CdS buffer layers. Band bending, charge density, and interface state density were extracted from the CV measurement using an analysis technique new to CIGS. The surface recombination velocity calculated from the density of interface traps for a ZnS/CIGS stack shows a remarkably low value of 810 cm/s, approaching the range of single crystalline II–VI systems. Both the PL spectra and its lifetime depend on the buffer layer; thus, these measurements are not only sensitive to the absorber but also to the absorber/buffer layer system. Pretreatment of the CIGS prior to the buffer layer deposition plays a significant role on the electrical properties for the same buffer layer/CIGS stack, further illuminating the importance of good interface formation. Lastly, ZnS is found to be the best performing buffer layer in this study, especially if the CIGS surface is pretreated with potassium cyanide.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center on Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion (CNEEC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001060

OSTI ID:: 1370025

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 3; Related Information: CNEEC partners with Stanford University (lead); Carnegie Institution at Stanford; Technical University of Denmark; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 17 works

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The Role of Hydrogen from ALD-Al ₂ O ₃ in Kesterite Cu ₂ ZnSnS ₄ Solar Cells: Grain Surface Passivation Park, Jongsung; Huang, Jialiang; Yun, Jaesung Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701940	journal	May 2018
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