Grazing Incidence Cross-Sectioning of Thin-Film Solar Cells via Cryogenic Focused Ion Beam: A Case Study on CIGSe
Cryogenic focused ion beam (Cryo-FIB) milling at near-grazing angles is employed to fabricate cross-sections on thin Cu(In,Ga)Se2 with >8x expansion in thickness. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) on sloped cross sections showed reduction in grain boundaries potential deeper into the film. Cryo Fib-KPFM enabled the first determination of the electronic structure of the Mo/CIGSe back contact, where a sub 100 nm thick MoSey assists hole extraction due to 45 meV higher work function. This demonstrates that CryoFIB-KPFM combination can reveal new targets of opportunity for improvement in thin-films photovoltaics such as high-work-function contacts to facilitate hole extraction through the back interface of CIGS.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1260136
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-66733
- Journal Information:
- ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 8, Issue 24; ISSN 1944-8244
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Determination of composition and phase depth-profiles in multilayer and gradient solid solution photovoltaic films using grazing incidence x-ray diffraction
Selenization of CIS and CIGS layers deposited by chemical spray pyrolysis