Department of Applied Science, Security and Resilience
Abstract
The investigation of ternary compounds for the fabrication of thin film solar cells is well
documented but the production of thin films by electrostatic spray deposition (ESD) is still limited.
This thesis represents the first attempt to deposit photovoltaic thin films using this novel method.
The lack of information regarding the deposition of CuInS2 by ESD required a statistical
investigation of the effects of different deposition variables. To achieve this, a new image analysis
method was developed to calculate the variation of the thickness of the as-deposited films using
their optical density. The thickness variation across the sample was then used to define its
uniformity.
Once the conditions for the best uniformity were defined, different needle and substrate materials
were investigated to try and improve the performance of the ESD method for potential large scale
production.
A formation of precipitates was observed during the preparation of the chloride precursor solutions
(prepared from CuCl2, InCl3 and thiourea salts). A possible reaction mechanism was proposed and
the chemical composition of precipitates analysed. An explanation of the absence of the precipitate
during the preparation of a nitrate starting solution (from Cu(NO3)2, In(NO3)3 and thiourea salts)
was reported.
The behaviour of the aerosol cone for the two different starting solutions (nitrate and chloride) was
established using the laser-based particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement technique. The
properties of as-deposited films sprayed by the two precursor solutions were thoroughly
investigated using a number of techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford backscattering
(RBS), optoelectronic characterisation and miniSIMS.
The effect of different precursor molar ratios on the properties of as-deposited films was studied for
both the nitrate and chloride based solutions using the above techniques.
ZnS films were also deposited using ESD for the first time. Using the information acquired during
the deposition of the CuInS2, a fully comprehensive analysis of the effect of different deposition
conditions and starting solution properties was performed.
Finally, CdS/CuInS2 and ZnS/CuInS2 junctions were prepared and tested using EQE measurements
in solution. Substrate and superstrate device configurations were used to prepare complete solar
cells which were analysed using IV measurements