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Title: Synchrotron X-Ray Characterization of Alkali Elements at Grain Boundaries in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells

Abstract

It is well known that the addition of alkali elements such as Na and K during and after growth of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) has beneficial effects on the electronic properties of bulk material, improving device performance significantly. While the device level effects have been measured and reported, a direct observations of the localization of Na including its chemical nature are missing, and the impact of Na on elemental and phase segregation during CIGS growth is not fully understood. We investigate these aspects to shine light on the role of Na in CIGS solar cells with the ultimate goal of increasing their conversion efficiency. Utilizing a suite of synchrotron based x-ray characterization techniques, we discuss the challenges and advantages of these techniques for investigating segregation of main constituents of CIGS, Na distribution, chemical bonding of Na, and collection efficiency in CIGS as well as their correlations.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
OSTI Identifier:
1344220
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5K00-67991
DOE Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: Presented at the 2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 5-10 June 2016, Portland, Oregon
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; CIGS; alkali; XRF; grain boundaries; Na

Citation Formats

West, Bradley, Stuckelberger, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Chen, Lei, Lai, Barry, Maser, Jorg, Rose, Volker, Dynes, James J., Shafarman, William, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, and Bertoni, Mariana I. Synchrotron X-Ray Characterization of Alkali Elements at Grain Boundaries in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749403.
West, Bradley, Stuckelberger, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Chen, Lei, Lai, Barry, Maser, Jorg, Rose, Volker, Dynes, James J., Shafarman, William, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, & Bertoni, Mariana I. Synchrotron X-Ray Characterization of Alkali Elements at Grain Boundaries in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749403
West, Bradley, Stuckelberger, Michael, Guthrey, Harvey, Chen, Lei, Lai, Barry, Maser, Jorg, Rose, Volker, Dynes, James J., Shafarman, William, Al-Jassim, Mowafak, and Bertoni, Mariana I. 2016. "Synchrotron X-Ray Characterization of Alkali Elements at Grain Boundaries in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749403.
@article{osti_1344220,
title = {Synchrotron X-Ray Characterization of Alkali Elements at Grain Boundaries in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Solar Cells},
author = {West, Bradley and Stuckelberger, Michael and Guthrey, Harvey and Chen, Lei and Lai, Barry and Maser, Jorg and Rose, Volker and Dynes, James J. and Shafarman, William and Al-Jassim, Mowafak and Bertoni, Mariana I.},
abstractNote = {It is well known that the addition of alkali elements such as Na and K during and after growth of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) has beneficial effects on the electronic properties of bulk material, improving device performance significantly. While the device level effects have been measured and reported, a direct observations of the localization of Na including its chemical nature are missing, and the impact of Na on elemental and phase segregation during CIGS growth is not fully understood. We investigate these aspects to shine light on the role of Na in CIGS solar cells with the ultimate goal of increasing their conversion efficiency. Utilizing a suite of synchrotron based x-ray characterization techniques, we discuss the challenges and advantages of these techniques for investigating segregation of main constituents of CIGS, Na distribution, chemical bonding of Na, and collection efficiency in CIGS as well as their correlations.},
doi = {10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749403},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1344220}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Nov 21 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

Conference:
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