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Spectroscopic ellipsometry for analysis of polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic devices and prediction of external quantum efficiency

Journal Article · · Applied Surface Science
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [2];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Toledo, Toledo, OH (United States); University of Toledo
  2. Univ. of Toledo, Toledo, OH (United States)
  3. Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Complete polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices employing CuIn1–xGaxSe2/CdS and CdS/CdTe heterojunctions have been studied by ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). In this paper, layer thicknesses have been extracted along with photon energy independent parameters such as compositions that describe the dielectric function spectra ε(E) of the individual layers. For accurate ex situ SE analysis of these PV devices, a database of ε(E) spectra is required for all thin film component materials used in each of the two absorber technologies. When possible, database measurements are performed by applying SE in situ immediately after deposition of the thin film materials and after cooling to room temperature in order to avoid oxidation and surface contamination. Determination of ε(E) from the resulting in situ SE data requires structural information that can be obtained from analysis of SE data acquired in real time during the deposition process. From the results of ex situ analysis of the complete CuIn1–xGaxSe2 (CIGS) and CdTe PV devices, the deduced layer thicknesses in combination with the parameters describing ε(E) can be employed in further studies that simulate the external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectra of the devices.
Research Organization:
Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0004946; EE0005400; EE0005405
OSTI ID:
1579801
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1538010
OSTI ID: 1550653
OSTI ID: 22715885
Journal Information:
Applied Surface Science, Journal Name: Applied Surface Science Journal Issue: PB Vol. 421; ISSN 0169-4332
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (7)

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journal April 2016
Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry of sputtered CdTe, CdS, and CdTe1− x S x thin films for photovoltaic applications journal April 2008
Quantifying the accuracy of ellipsometer systems journal May 2008
Real-Time, In-Line, and Mapping Spectroscopic Ellipsometry for Applications in Cu(In $_{{\bf 1}-{\bm x}}$Ga$_{\bm x}$ )Se$_{\bf 2}$ Metrology journal January 2014
Magnetron Sputtering for II-VI Solar Cells: Thinning the CdTe journal January 2009

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Quantum efficiency
Spectroscopic ellipsometry
Thin film photovoltaics