Thin films of copper indium gallium selenide Cu（In,Ga）Se2 （CIGS） were prepared by sequential elemental layer deposition in vacuum at room temperature. The as-deposited films were heated in vacuum for compound form...Thin films of copper indium gallium selenide Cu（In,Ga）Se2 （CIGS） were prepared by sequential elemental layer deposition in vacuum at room temperature. The as-deposited films were heated in vacuum for compound formation, and were studied at temperature as high as 1250℃ for the first time. These films were concurrently studied for their structural properties by X-ray diffraction （XRD） technique. The XRD analyses include phase transition studies, grain size variation and microstrain measurements with the reaction temperature and time.It has been observed that there are three distinct regions of variation in all these parameters. These regions belong to three temperature regimes： 〈450℃, 450-950℃, and 〉950℃. It is also seen that the compound formation starts at 250℃, with ternary phases appearing at 350℃ or above. Whereas, there is another phase shift at 950℃ without any preference to the quaternary compound.展开更多
The beneficial effect of the alkali metals such as Na and K on the Cu（In.Ga）Se2 （CIGS） and Cu2ZnSn（S,Se）4 （CZTSSe） solar cells has been extensively investigated in the past two decades, however, in most of the...The beneficial effect of the alkali metals such as Na and K on the Cu（In.Ga）Se2 （CIGS） and Cu2ZnSn（S,Se）4 （CZTSSe） solar cells has been extensively investigated in the past two decades, however, in most of the studies the alkali metals were treated as dopants. Several recent studies have showed that the alkali metals may not only act as dopants but also form secondary phases in the absorber layer or on the surfaces of the films. Using the first-principles calculations, we screened out the most probable secondary phases of Na and K in CIGS and CZTSSe, and studied their electronic structures and optical properties. We found that all these alkali chalcogenide compounds have larger band gaps and lower VBM levels than CIGS and CZTSSe, because the existence of strong p-d coupling in CIS and CZTS pushes the valence band maximum （VBM） level up and reduces the band-gaps, while there is no such p-d coupling in these alkali chalcogenides. This band alignment repels the photo-generated holes from the secondary phases and prevents the electron-hole recombination. Moreover, the study on the optical properties of the secondary phases showed that the absorption coefficients of these alkali chalcogenides are much lower than those of CIGS and CZTSSe in the energy range of 0-3.4eV, which means that the alkali chalcogenides may not influence the absorption of solar light. Since the alkali metal dopants can passivate the grain boundaries and increase the hole carrier concentration, and meanwhile their related secondary phases have innocuous effect on the optical absorption and band alignment, we can understand why the alkali metal dopants can improve the CIGS and CZTSSe solar cell performance.展开更多
High Ga content Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films incorporated sulfur were prepared by sequential evaporation from CuGaSe2 and CuInSe2 ternary compounds and subsequently Ga2Se3, In2Se3 and In2S3 binary compounds. The In2S3/(Ga2...High Ga content Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films incorporated sulfur were prepared by sequential evaporation from CuGaSe2 and CuInSe2 ternary compounds and subsequently Ga2Se3, In2Se3 and In2S3 binary compounds. The In2S3/(Ga2Se3+ In2Se3) ratio was varied from 0 to 0.13, and the properties of the thin films were investigated. XRD studies demonstrated that the prepared thin films had a chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se2 structure. The S/(Se+S) mole ratio in the thin films was within the range from 0 to 0.04. The band gaps of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films increased from 1.30 eV to 1.59 eV with increasing the ?In2S3 /(Ga2Se3+ In2Se3) ratio.展开更多
Reducing the manufacturing cost of solar cells is necessary to their industrial production. Electrodepositing is an effective, non-vacuum method which is very suitable for cutting the manufacturing cost of thin films ...Reducing the manufacturing cost of solar cells is necessary to their industrial production. Electrodepositing is an effective, non-vacuum method which is very suitable for cutting the manufacturing cost of thin films as well as developing its large-scale industrial production. In this study, about 1-μm-thick Cu（In,Ga）Se2（CIGS） precursors were electrodeposited on Mo/glass substrates in aqueous solution utilizing a three-electrode potentiostatic system.Triethanolamine was used as complexing agent, and all parameters of electrodeposition were precisely controlled.After that, the electrodeposited precursors were selenized in a Se atmosphere with different heating ramp rates（60 and 600℃·min^（-1））. High-quality CIGS films were obtained, and their characteristics were investigated by X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, energydispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra and near-infrared-visible（NIR-Vis） spectra. The results reveal that there are many differences between the properties of the films under different heating rates. Finally,CIGS solar cells were fabricated using a fast and a slow heating rate. The maximum efficiencies achieved for the films selenized at 60 and 600℃-min^（-1） are 3.15% and 0.71%, respectively.展开更多
Cu and Cu/ITO films were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrates with a Ga2O3 buffer layer using radio frequency （RF） and direct current （DC） magnetron sputtering. The effect of Cu layer thicknes...Cu and Cu/ITO films were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrates with a Ga2O3 buffer layer using radio frequency （RF） and direct current （DC） magnetron sputtering. The effect of Cu layer thickness on the optical and electrical properties of the Cu film deposited on a PET substrate with a Ga2O3 buffer layer was studied, and an appropriate Cu layer thickness of 4.2 nm was obtained. Changes in the optoelectrical properties of Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films were investigated with respect to the Ga2O3 buffer layer thickness. The optical and electrical properties of the Cu/ITO films were significantly influenced by the thickness of the Ga2O3 buffer layer. A maximum transmission of 86%, sheet resistance of 45 Ω/□ and figure of merit of 3.96 × 10^-3 Ω^ -1 were achieved for Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films with a Ga2O3 layer thickness of 15 nm.展开更多
Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se_(2)(CIGS) thin films deposited in a low-temperature process(450℃) usually produce fine grains and poor crystallinity. Herein, different Ag treatment processes, which can decrease the melting ...Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se_(2)(CIGS) thin films deposited in a low-temperature process(450℃) usually produce fine grains and poor crystallinity. Herein, different Ag treatment processes, which can decrease the melting temperature and enlarge band gap of the CIGS films, were employed to enhance the quality of thin films in a low-temperature deposition process. It is demonstrated that both the Ag precursor and Ag surface treatment process can heighten the crystallinity of CIGS films and the device efficiency. The former is more obvious than the latter. Furthermore, the Urbach energy is also reduced with Ag doping. This work aims to provide a feasible Ag-doping process for the high-quality CIGS films in a low-temperature process.展开更多
文摘Thin films of copper indium gallium selenide Cu（In,Ga）Se2 （CIGS） were prepared by sequential elemental layer deposition in vacuum at room temperature. The as-deposited films were heated in vacuum for compound formation, and were studied at temperature as high as 1250℃ for the first time. These films were concurrently studied for their structural properties by X-ray diffraction （XRD） technique. The XRD analyses include phase transition studies, grain size variation and microstrain measurements with the reaction temperature and time.It has been observed that there are three distinct regions of variation in all these parameters. These regions belong to three temperature regimes： 〈450℃, 450-950℃, and 〉950℃. It is also seen that the compound formation starts at 250℃, with ternary phases appearing at 350℃ or above. Whereas, there is another phase shift at 950℃ without any preference to the quaternary compound.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under grant nos.61574059 and 61722402the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFB0700700)+1 种基金Shu-Guang program(15SG20)CC of ECNU
文摘The beneficial effect of the alkali metals such as Na and K on the Cu（In.Ga）Se2 （CIGS） and Cu2ZnSn（S,Se）4 （CZTSSe） solar cells has been extensively investigated in the past two decades, however, in most of the studies the alkali metals were treated as dopants. Several recent studies have showed that the alkali metals may not only act as dopants but also form secondary phases in the absorber layer or on the surfaces of the films. Using the first-principles calculations, we screened out the most probable secondary phases of Na and K in CIGS and CZTSSe, and studied their electronic structures and optical properties. We found that all these alkali chalcogenide compounds have larger band gaps and lower VBM levels than CIGS and CZTSSe, because the existence of strong p-d coupling in CIS and CZTS pushes the valence band maximum （VBM） level up and reduces the band-gaps, while there is no such p-d coupling in these alkali chalcogenides. This band alignment repels the photo-generated holes from the secondary phases and prevents the electron-hole recombination. Moreover, the study on the optical properties of the secondary phases showed that the absorption coefficients of these alkali chalcogenides are much lower than those of CIGS and CZTSSe in the energy range of 0-3.4eV, which means that the alkali chalcogenides may not influence the absorption of solar light. Since the alkali metal dopants can passivate the grain boundaries and increase the hole carrier concentration, and meanwhile their related secondary phases have innocuous effect on the optical absorption and band alignment, we can understand why the alkali metal dopants can improve the CIGS and CZTSSe solar cell performance.
文摘High Ga content Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films incorporated sulfur were prepared by sequential evaporation from CuGaSe2 and CuInSe2 ternary compounds and subsequently Ga2Se3, In2Se3 and In2S3 binary compounds. The In2S3/(Ga2Se3+ In2Se3) ratio was varied from 0 to 0.13, and the properties of the thin films were investigated. XRD studies demonstrated that the prepared thin films had a chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se2 structure. The S/(Se+S) mole ratio in the thin films was within the range from 0 to 0.04. The band gaps of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films increased from 1.30 eV to 1.59 eV with increasing the ?In2S3 /(Ga2Se3+ In2Se3) ratio.
基金financially supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(No.2015AA034201)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11474355)the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund(No.2017LX002)
文摘Reducing the manufacturing cost of solar cells is necessary to their industrial production. Electrodepositing is an effective, non-vacuum method which is very suitable for cutting the manufacturing cost of thin films as well as developing its large-scale industrial production. In this study, about 1-μm-thick Cu（In,Ga）Se2（CIGS） precursors were electrodeposited on Mo/glass substrates in aqueous solution utilizing a three-electrode potentiostatic system.Triethanolamine was used as complexing agent, and all parameters of electrodeposition were precisely controlled.After that, the electrodeposited precursors were selenized in a Se atmosphere with different heating ramp rates（60 and 600℃·min^（-1））. High-quality CIGS films were obtained, and their characteristics were investigated by X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, energydispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra and near-infrared-visible（NIR-Vis） spectra. The results reveal that there are many differences between the properties of the films under different heating rates. Finally,CIGS solar cells were fabricated using a fast and a slow heating rate. The maximum efficiencies achieved for the films selenized at 60 and 600℃-min^（-1） are 3.15% and 0.71%, respectively.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.10974077)the National Science Foundation of Shandong Province,China(No.2009ZRB01702)the Shandong Province Higher Educational Science and Technology Program,China(No.J10LA08)
文摘Cu and Cu/ITO films were prepared on polyethylene terephthalate （PET） substrates with a Ga2O3 buffer layer using radio frequency （RF） and direct current （DC） magnetron sputtering. The effect of Cu layer thickness on the optical and electrical properties of the Cu film deposited on a PET substrate with a Ga2O3 buffer layer was studied, and an appropriate Cu layer thickness of 4.2 nm was obtained. Changes in the optoelectrical properties of Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films were investigated with respect to the Ga2O3 buffer layer thickness. The optical and electrical properties of the Cu/ITO films were significantly influenced by the thickness of the Ga2O3 buffer layer. A maximum transmission of 86%, sheet resistance of 45 Ω/□ and figure of merit of 3.96 × 10^-3 Ω^ -1 were achieved for Cu（4.2 nm）/ITO（30 nm） films with a Ga2O3 layer thickness of 15 nm.
基金The work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2018YFB1500200)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61774089 and 61974076)Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin(No.18JCZDJC31200)。
文摘Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se_(2)(CIGS) thin films deposited in a low-temperature process(450℃) usually produce fine grains and poor crystallinity. Herein, different Ag treatment processes, which can decrease the melting temperature and enlarge band gap of the CIGS films, were employed to enhance the quality of thin films in a low-temperature deposition process. It is demonstrated that both the Ag precursor and Ag surface treatment process can heighten the crystallinity of CIGS films and the device efficiency. The former is more obvious than the latter. Furthermore, the Urbach energy is also reduced with Ag doping. This work aims to provide a feasible Ag-doping process for the high-quality CIGS films in a low-temperature process.
