Comprehensive characterization of CIGS absorber layers grown by one-step sputtering process

Journal Article · Fri Nov 16 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Ceramics International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2018.11.120· OSTI ID:1487331

Park, Jae Cheol ^[1]; Al-Jassim, Mowafak ^[2]; Shin, Seung Wook ^[3]; Kim, Jin Hyeok ^[3]; Kim, Tae Won ^[1]

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1. Korea Inst. of Industrial Technology, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)
2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
3. Chonnam National Univ., Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

We have demonstrated that the use of a one-step sputtering process allowed for the fabrication of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin films by RF magnetron sputtering without an additional selenization process. The CIGS thin films deposited at different substrate temperatures were synthesized on soda-lime glass (SLG) substrates using a single quaternary CIGS target. The film composition ratios of ([Cu]/[In]+[Ga]), ([Ga]/[In]+[Ga]), and ([Se]/[Cu]+[In]+[Ga]) were almost consistent with those of the sputtering target. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman results showed that the crystallinity of the CIGS thin films was gradually improved as substrate temperatures increased. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the films grown at 600 degrees C have a columnar structure with the grain size of ~100 nm. In addition, for the CIGS films grown at 600 degrees C, TEM-EDX analysis revealed that the synchronized fluctuation of the Cu and Se signals was observed in the direction of the film depth, while the In and Ga signals were constant. As a result, the CIGS solar cell made using the film showed a degraded cell efficiency of 2.5%, which might be have been caused by not only Cu-rich and Se-poor compositions but the locally unstable composition in the CIGS films fabricated by one-step sputtering.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1487331
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5K00-72961
• Journal Information: Ceramics International, Vol. 45, Issue 4; ISSN 0272-8842
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CIGS
quaternary single target
one-step sputtering
compound semiconductor