Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate
Abstract
The precise control of alkali-metal concentrations in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells via post deposition treatment (PDT) has recently attracted attention. When PDT is performed at an elevated temperature, an accompanying annealing effect is expected. Here, we investigate how thermal annealing affects the redistribution of alkali metals in CIGS solar cells on glass substrates and the properties of the solar cells. In addition, we investigate the origin of non-homogeneous alkali-metal depth profiles that are typical of CIGS grown using a three-stage process. In particular, we use secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion concentration as a function of distance from the CIGS surface to investigate the impact of thermal annealing on the distribution of alkali metals (Na, Ka, and Rb) and constituent elements (Ga and In) in the CIGS absorbers. We find that the depth profiles of the alkali metals strongly reflect the density of sites that tend to accommodate alkali metals, i.e., vacancies. Annealing at elevated temperature caused a redistribution of the alkali metals. The thermal-diffusion kinetics of alkali metals depends strongly on the species involved. We introduced low flux potassium fluoride (KF) to study a side effect of KF-PDT, i.e., Na removal from CIGS, separately from its predominant effectsmore »
- Authors:
-
- National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1429975
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-71194
Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979; TRN: US1802487
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 123; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 0021-8979
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; materials; electrochemistry; metals; diffusion; condensed matter properties; mass spectrometry; electrical properties; materials treatment; liquids; metalloids
Citation Formats
Kamikawa, Yukiko, Nishinaga, Jiro, Ishizuka, Shogo, Tayagaki, Takeshi, Guthrey, Harvey, Shibata, Hajime, Matsubara, Koji, and Niki, Shigeru. Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.5016949.
Kamikawa, Yukiko, Nishinaga, Jiro, Ishizuka, Shogo, Tayagaki, Takeshi, Guthrey, Harvey, Shibata, Hajime, Matsubara, Koji, & Niki, Shigeru. Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016949
Kamikawa, Yukiko, Nishinaga, Jiro, Ishizuka, Shogo, Tayagaki, Takeshi, Guthrey, Harvey, Shibata, Hajime, Matsubara, Koji, and Niki, Shigeru. Wed .
"Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016949. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1429975.
@article{osti_1429975,
title = {Effect of thermal annealing on the redistribution of alkali metals in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells on glass substrate},
author = {Kamikawa, Yukiko and Nishinaga, Jiro and Ishizuka, Shogo and Tayagaki, Takeshi and Guthrey, Harvey and Shibata, Hajime and Matsubara, Koji and Niki, Shigeru},
abstractNote = {The precise control of alkali-metal concentrations in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells via post deposition treatment (PDT) has recently attracted attention. When PDT is performed at an elevated temperature, an accompanying annealing effect is expected. Here, we investigate how thermal annealing affects the redistribution of alkali metals in CIGS solar cells on glass substrates and the properties of the solar cells. In addition, we investigate the origin of non-homogeneous alkali-metal depth profiles that are typical of CIGS grown using a three-stage process. In particular, we use secondary-ion mass spectrometry measurements of the ion concentration as a function of distance from the CIGS surface to investigate the impact of thermal annealing on the distribution of alkali metals (Na, Ka, and Rb) and constituent elements (Ga and In) in the CIGS absorbers. We find that the depth profiles of the alkali metals strongly reflect the density of sites that tend to accommodate alkali metals, i.e., vacancies. Annealing at elevated temperature caused a redistribution of the alkali metals. The thermal-diffusion kinetics of alkali metals depends strongly on the species involved. We introduced low flux potassium fluoride (KF) to study a side effect of KF-PDT, i.e., Na removal from CIGS, separately from its predominant effects such as surface modification. When sufficient amounts of Na are supplied from the soda lime glass via annealing at an elevated temperature, the negative effect was not apparent. Conversely, when the Na supply was not sufficient, it caused a deterioration of the photovoltaic properties.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5016949},
journal = {Journal of Applied Physics},
number = 9,
volume = 123,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Wed Mar 07 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
Works referenced in this record:
Effects of alkali-metal block layer to enhance Na diffusion into Cu(in,Ga)Se2 absorber on flexible solar cells
journal, February 2015
- Moriwaki, Kenichi; Nomoto, Maki; Ishizuka, Shogo
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 133
Highly Efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 Thin-Film Submodule Fabricated Using a Three-Stage Process
journal, November 2013
- Kamikawa-Shimizu, Yukiko; Komaki, Hironori; Yamada, Akimasa
- Applied Physics Express, Vol. 6, Issue 11
Unveiling the effects of post-deposition treatment with different alkaline elements on the electronic properties of CIGS thin film solar cells
journal, January 2014
- Pianezzi, Fabian; Reinhard, Patrick; Chirilă, Adrian
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 19
High‐efficiency CuIn x Ga 1− x Se 2 solar cells made from (In x ,Ga 1− x ) 2 Se 3 precursor films
journal, July 1994
- Gabor, Andrew M.; Tuttle, John R.; Albin, David S.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 65, Issue 2
Characterization of Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se$_{\bf 2}$ Films Using Atom-Probe Tomography
journal, October 2011
- Cojocaru-Mirédin, Oana; Choi, Pyuck-Pa; Abou-Ras, Daniel
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 1, Issue 2
Effects of Na on the electrical and structural properties of CuInSe2
journal, May 1999
- Wei, Su-Huai; Zhang, S. B.; Zunger, Alex
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 85, Issue 10
Effect of Alkali Metal Atom Doping on the CuInSe 2 -Based Solar Cell Absorber
journal, July 2017
- Malitckaya, M.; Komsa, H. -P.; Havu, V.
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 121, Issue 29
-type doping of and
journal, July 2005
- Persson, Clas; Zhao, Yu-Jun; Lany, Stephan
- Physical Review B, Vol. 72, Issue 3
Crystallographic and optical properties and band structures of CuInSe 2 , CuIn 3 Se 5 , and CuIn 5 Se 8 phases in Cu-poor Cu 2 Se–In 2 Se 3 pseudo-binary system
journal, March 2016
- Maeda, Tsuyoshi; Gong, Weiyan; Wada, Takahiro
- Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 55, Issue 4S
Effect of Cu deficiency on the optical bowing of chalcopyrite CuIn1−xGaxSe2
journal, October 2005
- Han, Sung-Ho; Hasoon, Falah S.; Pankow, Joel W.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 87, Issue 15
Na incorporation into Cu(In,Ga)Se2 for high-efficiency flexible solar cells on polymer foils
journal, April 2005
- Rudmann, D.; Brémaud, D.; Zogg, H.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, Issue 8
Solar cell efficiency tables (version 50)
journal, June 2017
- Green, Martin A.; Hishikawa, Yoshihiro; Warta, Wilhelm
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 25, Issue 7
Effects of long-term heat-light soaking on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with KF postdeposition treatment
journal, August 2017
- Nishinaga, Jiro; Koida, Takashi; Ishizuka, Shogo
- Applied Physics Express, Vol. 10, Issue 9
Potassium-induced surface modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films for high-efficiency solar cells
journal, November 2013
- Chirilă, Adrian; Reinhard, Patrick; Pianezzi, Fabian
- Nature Materials, Vol. 12, Issue 12
Features of KF and NaF Postdeposition Treatments of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 Absorbers for High Efficiency Thin Film Solar Cells
journal, August 2015
- Reinhard, Patrick; Bissig, Benjamin; Pianezzi, Fabian
- Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 16
Defect physics of the chalcopyrite semiconductor
journal, April 1998
- Zhang, S. B.; Wei, Su-Huai; Zunger, Alex
- Physical Review B, Vol. 57, Issue 16
Sodium Passivation of the Grain Boundaries in CuInSe 2 and Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 for High-Efficiency Solar Cells
journal, December 2016
- Liu, Cheng-Yan; Li, Zhi-Ming; Gu, Hong-Yang
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 8
Impact of Cu/III ratio on the near-surface defects in polycrystalline CuGaSe2 thin films
journal, March 2011
- Islam, M. M.; Uedono, A.; Ishibashi, S.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 11
Effects of heavy alkali elements in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with efficiencies up to 22.6%
journal, July 2016
- Jackson, Philip; Wuerz, Roland; Hariskos, Dimitrios
- physica status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 8
A critical review on building integrated photovoltaic products and their applications
journal, August 2016
- Tripathy, M.; Sadhu, P. K.; Panda, S. K.
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 61
First-principles study on alkali-metal effect of Li, Na, and K in CuInSe 2 and CuGaSe 2
journal, July 2015
- Maeda, Tsuyoshi; Kawabata, Atsuhito; Wada, Takahiro
- Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 8S1
Diffusion barrier properties of molybdenum back contacts for Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells on stainless steel foils
journal, February 2013
- Blösch, P.; Pianezzi, F.; Chirilă, A.
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 113, Issue 5
Surface treatment of CuInGaSe2 thin films and its effect on the photovoltaic properties of solar cells
journal, September 2003
- Ramanathan, K.; Hasoon, F. S.; Smith, S.
- Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 64, Issue 9-10
Progress in thin film CIGS photovoltaics - Research and development, manufacturing, and applications: Progress in thin film CIGS photovoltaics
journal, October 2016
- Feurer, Thomas; Reinhard, Patrick; Avancini, Enrico
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 25, Issue 7
Texture and morphology variations in (In,Ga) 2 Se 3 and Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin films grown with various Se source conditions : Texture and morphology variations in (In,Ga)
journal, November 2011
- Ishizuka, Shogo; Yamada, Akimasa; Fons, Paul
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) 2 solar cell research in Solar Frontier: Progress and current status
journal, February 2017
- Kato, Takuya
- Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 56, Issue 4S
Effect of Cu-deficient layer formation in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar-cell performance
journal, December 2017
- Nishimura, Takahito; Toki, Soma; Sugiura, Hiroki
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 26, Issue 4
Effects of Mo surface oxidation on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells fabricated by three-stage process with KF postdeposition treatment
journal, January 2016
- Kamikawa, Yukiko; Nishinaga, Jiro; Ishizuka, Shogo
- Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 55, Issue 2
Effects of Sodium on Polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Its Solar Cell Performance
journal, January 1998
- Kronik, Leeor.; Cahen, David; Schock, Hans Werner
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 1
Interpretation of admittance, capacitance-voltage, and current-voltage signatures in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells
journal, February 2010
- Eisenbarth, Tobias; Unold, Thomas; Caballero, Raquel
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 107, Issue 3
CIGS thin-film solar cells on steel substrates
journal, February 2009
- Wuerz, R.; Eicke, A.; Frankenfeld, M.
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 517, Issue 7
Optimization of CBD CdS process in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2-based solar cells
journal, February 2002
- Contreras, Miguel A.; Romero, Manuel J.; To, Bobby
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 403-404, p. 204-211
Vacancy behavior in Cu(In1−Ga )Se2 layers grown by a three-stage coevaporation process probed by monoenergetic positron beams
journal, March 2016
- Uedono, Akira; Islam, Muhammad M.; Sakurai, Takeaki
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 603
Investigation of the diffusion behavior of sodium in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 layers
journal, April 2014
- Laemmle, Anke; Wuerz, Roland; Schwarz, Torsten
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 15
Diffusion in Solids: Fundamentals, Methods, Materials, Diffusion-Controlled Processes
book, January 2007
- Mehrer, Helmut
- Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences
Diffusion in solids
journal, February 1964
- Barrer, R. M.
- International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 7, Issue 2
Diffusion in Solids. [材料科学の成果と展望 固体における拡散]
journal, January 1997
- Nakajima, Hideo
- Materia Japan, Vol. 36, Issue 9
Effects of heavy alkali elements in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with efficiencies up to 22.6%
text, January 2016
- Jackson, Philip; Wuerz, Roland; Hariskos, Dimitrios
- Karlsruhe
Works referencing / citing this record:
Role of surface microstructure of Mo back contact on alkali atom diffusion and Ga grading in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin film solar cells
journal, April 2019
- Gong, Junbo; Kong, Yifan; Li, Jianmin
- Energy Science & Engineering