skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: High efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} thin film solar cells without intermediate buffer layers

Conference ·
OSTI ID:305643
; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States). Electronic Materials and Devices Div.

The nature of the interface between CuInGaSe{sub 2} (CIGS) and the chemical bath deposited CdS layer has been investigated. The authors show that heat-treating the absorbers in Cd- or Zn-containing solutions in the presence of ammonium hydroxide sets up an interfacial reaction with the possibility of an ion exchange occurring between Cd and Cu. The characteristics of devices made in this manner suggest that the reaction generates a thin, n-doped region in the absorber. The authors suggest that this aspect might be more important than the CdS layer in the formation of the junction. It is quite possible that the CdS/CuInSe{sub 2} device is a buried, shallow junction with a CdS window layer, rather than a heterojunction between CdS and CIGS. The authors use these ideas to develop methods for fabricating diodes without CdS or Cd.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-83CH10093
OSTI ID:
305643
Report Number(s):
NREL/TP-520-25101; CONF-980735-PROC.; ON: DE98007497; TRN: IM9906%%323
Resource Relation:
Conference: 2. world conference and exhibition on photovoltaic solar energy conversion, Vienna (Austria), 6-10 Jul 1998; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of NCPV preprints for the 2. world conference on photovoltaic solar energy conversion; PB: 142 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English