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Title: KF post-deposition treatment of industrial Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 thin-film surfaces: Modifying the chemical and electronic structure

Abstract

The chemical and electronic structures of industrial chalcopyrite photovoltaic absorbers after KF post-deposition treatment (KF-PDT) are investigated using electron spectroscopies to probe the occupied and unoccupied electronic states. In contrast to a variety of recent publications on the impact of KF-PDT, this study focuses on industrial Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 absorbers that also contain sulfur at the surface. We find that the KF-PDT removes surface adsorbates and oxides and also observe a change in the S/Se ratio. Furthermore, the KF-PDT leads to a Cu reduction at the surface but to a much lower degree than the strongly Cu-depleted or even Cu-free surfaces reported for (non-industrial) sulfur-free Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers. Furthermore, the valence band maximum at the surface is found at a lower energy compared to the untreated absorber, and the conduction band minimum is found at a higher energy, overall revealing a widening of the bandgap in the surface region.

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Las Vegas, NV (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Las Vegas, NV (United States); Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI (United States)
  4. STION, San Jose, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Las Vegas, NV (United States); Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe (Germany)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S), SunShot Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency (F-PACE); USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1379465
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1374925
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5K00-70059
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308; ZEJ-2-22082-0.1
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 111; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; crystallography; deposition; electron spectroscopy; electronic structure; gallium; semiconducting selenium compounds

Citation Formats

Mezher, Michelle, Mansfield, Lorelle M., Horsley, Kimberly, Blum, Monika, Wieting, Robert, Weinhardt, Lothar, Ramanathan, Kannan, and Heske, Clemens. KF post-deposition treatment of industrial Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 thin-film surfaces: Modifying the chemical and electronic structure. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4998445.
Mezher, Michelle, Mansfield, Lorelle M., Horsley, Kimberly, Blum, Monika, Wieting, Robert, Weinhardt, Lothar, Ramanathan, Kannan, & Heske, Clemens. KF post-deposition treatment of industrial Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 thin-film surfaces: Modifying the chemical and electronic structure. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998445
Mezher, Michelle, Mansfield, Lorelle M., Horsley, Kimberly, Blum, Monika, Wieting, Robert, Weinhardt, Lothar, Ramanathan, Kannan, and Heske, Clemens. Mon . "KF post-deposition treatment of industrial Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 thin-film surfaces: Modifying the chemical and electronic structure". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998445. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1379465.
@article{osti_1379465,
title = {KF post-deposition treatment of industrial Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 thin-film surfaces: Modifying the chemical and electronic structure},
author = {Mezher, Michelle and Mansfield, Lorelle M. and Horsley, Kimberly and Blum, Monika and Wieting, Robert and Weinhardt, Lothar and Ramanathan, Kannan and Heske, Clemens},
abstractNote = {The chemical and electronic structures of industrial chalcopyrite photovoltaic absorbers after KF post-deposition treatment (KF-PDT) are investigated using electron spectroscopies to probe the occupied and unoccupied electronic states. In contrast to a variety of recent publications on the impact of KF-PDT, this study focuses on industrial Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 absorbers that also contain sulfur at the surface. We find that the KF-PDT removes surface adsorbates and oxides and also observe a change in the S/Se ratio. Furthermore, the KF-PDT leads to a Cu reduction at the surface but to a much lower degree than the strongly Cu-depleted or even Cu-free surfaces reported for (non-industrial) sulfur-free Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers. Furthermore, the valence band maximum at the surface is found at a lower energy compared to the untreated absorber, and the conduction band minimum is found at a higher energy, overall revealing a widening of the bandgap in the surface region.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4998445},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 7,
volume = 111,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Aug 14 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

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