Electrodeposition of semiconductor layers of In-Se, CuSe and Cu-In-Se

The semiconducting layers of indium-selenide (In-Se), copper-selenide (Cu-Se) and copper-indium-selenide (Cu-ln- Se) have been electrodeposited under d.c. conditions. As deposited, tn-Se and Cu-Se layers were selenium rich. Heat treatment resulted in the formation of In-Se and Cu1.72-Se compounds. Cu-In-Se layers have been prepared by three routes; by sequential electrodeposition of In-Se layer on Cu-Se; vice versa; and direct electrodeposition of Cu-In-Se layers. All these layers were found to be Cu-rich and polycrystallinein nature

Contact angle measurements an empirical diagnostic method for evaluation of thin film solar cell absorbers CuInS2

An empirical diagnostic method for the evaluation of solar cell grade CuInS2 absorbers has been developed. The method involves the measurement of the contact angle between water and the CuInS2 absorber before fabrication of a solar cell. The contact angle is expected to depend upon local inhomogeneity, chemical composition and surface morphology of the CuInS2 absorber. The variation of these factors on the surface is supported with scanning electron micrographs, chemical analyses, laser scanning photocurrent mapping of various CuInS2 absorbers and measurements of the solar cell performance. The contact angle has been found to be different at different places on the CuInS2 surface. Empirically, it was found that for high conversion ef amp; 64257;ciency solar cells gt;8 10.5 , the contact angle on CuInS2 absorbers ranges between 53 and 63 . For low conversion ef amp; 64257;ciency solar cells o6 , it is between 48 and 50 . Therefore, it is seen that contact angle measurements on CuInS2 absorbers can be used to assess the quality of CuInS2 absorbers prior to solar cell fabricatio

ZnSe thin films by chemical bath deposition method

The ZnSe thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates by the simple chemical bath deposition method using selenourea as a selenide ion source from an aqueous alkaline medium. The effect of Zn ion concentration, bath temperature and deposition time period on the quality and thickness of ZnSe films has been studied. The ZnSe films have been characterized by XRD, TEM, EDAX, TRMC time resolved microwave conductivity , optical absorbance and RBS techniques for their structural, compositional, electronic and optical properties. The as deposited ZnSe films are found to be amorphous, Zn rich with optical band gap, Eg, equal to 2.9 e