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Hibberd Chemical incorporation of copper.pdf (1.54 MB)

Chemical incorporation of copper into indium selenide thin-films for processing of CuInSe2 solar cells

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posted on 2009-07-02, 13:44 authored by Christopher J. Hibberd, K.E. Ernits, M. Kaelin, U. Muller, A.N. Tiwari
A chemical method of incorporating copper into indium selenide thin-films has been investigated, with the goal of creating a precursor structure for conversion into CuInSe2 layers suitable for solar cell processing. The precursor and converted layers have been investigated with scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. From these measurements, the incorporation of copper into the indium selenide layers is concluded to proceed by an ion-exchange reaction. This reaction results in the formation of a precursor layer with a graded compositional depth-profile containing the crystalline phases In2Se3 and Cu2-xSe. Selenization of the precursor layer homogenises the composition and forms chalcopyrite CuInSe2. These CuInSe2 layers exhibit a dense microstructure with rough surface morphology, which is ascribed to a non-optimal selenization process. Solar cells with the structure ZnO:Al/i-ZnO/CdS/CuInSe2/Mo/Glass have been processed from the selenized layers and have exhibited efficiencies of up to 4% under simulated AM1.5 illumination.

History

School

  • Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering

Research Unit

  • Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST)

Citation

Hibberd, C.J. ... et al, 2008. Chemical incorporation of copper into indium selenide thin-films for processing of CuInSe2 solar cells. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 16 (7), pp. 585-593

Version

  • SMUR (Submitted Manuscript Under Review)

Publication date

2008

Notes

This is a pre-print of an article published in the journal, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications [© John Wiley & Sons]. The definitive version: Hibberd, C.J. ... et al, 2008. Chemical incorporation of copper into indium selenide thin-films for processing of CuInSe2 solar cells. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 16 (7), pp. 585-593, is available at: http://www.interscience.wiley.com

ISSN

1099-159X

Language

  • en

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