Optical and Structural Properties of High-Efficiency Epitaxial Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Grown on GaAs

Guthrey, Harvey L.; Norman, Andrew; Nishinaga, Jiro; Niki, Shigeru; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.; Shibata, Hajime

doi:10.1021/acsami.9b18040

Optical and Structural Properties of High-Efficiency Epitaxial Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ Grown on GaAs

Journal Article · Tue Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2019 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b18040· OSTI ID:1592394

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]; Niki, Shigeru ^[2]; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M. ^[1]; Shibata, Hajime ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)

Photovoltaic devices based on Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) usually employ polycrystalline thin films as the absorber layer. This is because, to date, the highest conversion efficiencies have been attained with polycrystalline CIGS films. Recently, Nishinaga et al. presented an epitaxial CIGS thin-film solar cell grown on a GaAs (100) substrate with a conversion efficiency of 20.0%. In this contribution, we study the optical and structural properties of this high-efficiency epitaxial film, along with others with different compositions using cathodoluminescence spectrum imaging and transmission electron microscopy. A comparison of the high-efficiency epitaxial film and a traditional polycrystalline film with a similar global composition reveals significant differences in microstructure and uniformity of emission properties despite similar performance. The analysis of epitaxial films with a higher gallium concentration indicates that the emission characteristics and nature of extended defects in epitaxial CIGS films are strongly dependent on the gallium content. The results presented here provide evidence that, with further optimization, photovoltaic conversion efficiencies of epitaxial CIGS films could exceed those of polycrystalline CIGS.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1592394

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-72576

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 12; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CIGS microscopy
TEM
cathodoluminescence
defect characterization
epitaxial CIGS
solar cell