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Title: Characterization of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) films with varying gallium ratios

Journal Article · · Journal of Alloys and Compounds
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [1];  [1]
  1. State Univ. of New York Polytechnic Institute, Albany, NY (United States)
  2. Angstrom Sun Technologies Inc., Acton, MA (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Stony Brook Univ., Stony Brook, NY (United States)
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Cu(In1–x,Gax)Se2 (CIGS) absorber layers were deposited on molybdenum (Mo) coated soda-lime glass substrates with varying Ga content (described as Ga/(In + Ga) ratios) with respect to depth. As the responsible mechanisms for the limitation of the performance of the CIGS solar cells with high Ga contents are not well understood, the goal of this work was to investigate different properties of CIGS absorber films with Ga/(In + Ga) ratios varied between 0.29 and 0.41 (as determined by X-ray florescence spectroscopy (XRF)) in order to better understand the role that the Ga content has on film quality. The Ga grading in the CIGS layer has the effect causing a higher band gap toward the surface and Mo contact while the band gap in the middle of the CIGS layer is lower. Also, a wider and larger Ga/(In + Ga) grading dip located deeper in the CIGS absorber layers tend to produce larger grains in the regions of the films that have lower Ga/(In + Ga) ratios. Moreover, it was found that surface roughness decreases from 51.2 nm to 41.0 nm with increasing Ga/(In + Ga) ratios. Furthermore, the surface roughness generally decreases if the Ga grading occurs deeper in the absorber layer.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704; EE0004947; SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1224189
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1245376; OSTI ID: 1359222
Report Number(s):
BNL-108442-2015-JA; BNL-111833-2016-JA; R&D Project: YN0100000
Journal Information:
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Journal Name: Journal of Alloys and Compounds; ISSN 0925-8388
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 28 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (7)

Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7% : Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se journal December 2014
Solar cell efficiency tables (version 46): Solar cell efficiency tables (version 46) journal June 2015
Parameterization of the optical functions of amorphous materials in the interband region journal July 1996
Effect of Ga content and growth temperature on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin film deposited on heat-resistant glass substrates journal May 2013
Influence of the Ga-content on the bulk defect densities of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 journal May 2001
Effects of Ga contents on properties of CIGS thin films and solar cells fabricated by co-evaporation technique journal July 2010
Effects of Ga content on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells studied by numerical modeling journal February 2008

Cited By (4)

Record 1.0 V open-circuit voltage in wide band gap chalcopyrite solar cells journal July 2017
2016 Atomic Spectrometry Update – a review of advances in X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and its applications journal January 2016
Quantitative Analysis and Band Gap Determination for CIGS Absorber Layers Using Surface Techniques journal October 2018
Bandgap profiling in CIGS solar cells via valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy journal March 2018

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
energy storage materials
semiconductors
thin films
photovoltaics
atomic force microscopy (AFM)
scanning electron microscopy (SEM)