High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering of CIGS Thin Films for High Efficiency Thin Film Solar Cells

In this work CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS) thin films with three different values of x (0; 0.28; 1) were preparedby nonreactive sputtering of Cu, In and Ga in HiPIMS (High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering) orDC magnetron and subsequently selenized in an Ar+Se atmosphere. Optical emission spectroscopy(OES) was used to monitor some basic plasma parameters during sputtering of metallic precursors. CIGSthin film characteristics were measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and other techniques

Thin Films Formed by Selenization of CuIn\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3eB\u3csub\u3e1−x\u3c/sub\u3e Precursors in Se Vapor

Previous attempts in producing light absorbing materials with bandgaps near the 1.37 eV efficiency optimum have included the partial substitution of gallium or aluminum for indium in the CIS system. The most efficient of these solar cells to date have had absorber layers with bandgaps \u3c 1.2 eV. It is logical that an even smaller substitutional atom, boron, should lead to a wider bandgap with a smaller degree of atomic substitution. In this study, copper–indium–boron precursor films are sputtered onto molybdenum coated glass substrates and post-selenized. In the selenized films, although X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements confirm that a CIS phase is present, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) results indicate that boron is no longer homogeneously dispersed throughout the film as it was in the case of the unselenized precursor

A non-vacuum process for preparing nanocrystalline CuIn\u3csub\u3e1−x\u3c/sub\u3eGa\u3csub\u3ex\u3c/sub\u3eSe\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e materials involving an open-air solvothermal reaction

A non-vacuum, two-step process has been used to prepare a series of nanocrystalline CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) materials. An open-air solvothermal preparation in triethylenetetramine solvent was followed by annealing at 500 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere for 20 min. All materials have mixed clustered plate, spherical particle, and nanorod morphologies with the smallest particle diameters ranging between 20 and 40 nm. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirm that indium/gallium ratio control is possible over a wide range. The solvothermal reaction step yields a mixture of chalcopyrite and Cu2−xSe. This is converted to pure chalcopyrite product by annealing at 500 °C