Effect of rapid thermal annealing of copper indium aluminium gallium diselenide solar cell devices and its deposition challenges

Karthikeyan, Sreejith; Hwang, Sehyun; Sibakoti, Mandip J.; Bontrager, Timothy; Liptak, R. W.; Campbell, Stephen A.

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.06.279

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Rapid low‐temperature annealing of Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 devices in the air was demonstrated to improve V oc up to ≈60 mV. [ 46,47 ] For our films covered only with CdS, the improvement of Δ E F by ≈30 meV was also confirmed after 200 °C and 2 min of annealing in the air. The results of samples without annealing are shown in Figure S4 (Supporting Information).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Diode Factor in Solar Cells with Metastable Defects and Back Contact Recombination

Wang

Ehre

Weiss

et al. 2022

Advanced Energy Materials

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To achieve a high fill factor, a small diode factor close to 1 is essential. The optical diode factor determined by photoluminescence is the diode factor from the neutral zone of the solar cell and thus a lower bound for the diode factor. Due to metastable defects transitions, the optical diode factor is higher than 1 even at low excitation. Here, the influence of the backside recombination and the doping level on the optical diode factor are studied. First, photoluminescence and solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) simulations are used to determine the back surface recombination velocity of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 with various back contacts and different doping levels. Then, experimental results and simulations show that both back surface recombination and high doping density reduce the optical diode factor. The back surface recombination reduces the optical diode factor with undesirable extra nonradiative recombination. The smaller value achieved by higher doping can increase quasi‐Fermi level splitting at the same time. The simulations show that the back surface recombination reduces the optical diode factor due to an illumination‐dependent recombination rate. In addition, a higher majority carrier doping reduces the influence of majority carrier gain from metastable defect transitions, thus reducing the optical diode factor.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Diode Factor in Solar Cells with Metastable Defects and Back Contact Recombination

Wang

Ehre

Weiss

et al. 2022

Advanced Energy Materials

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“…While this is close to fulfilling the above-mentioned necessary conditions, this surface will also not work for spontaneous water splitting since the Fermi level is still ∼1 eV above the H 2 O/O 2 oxidation potential (sufficient condition). Nevertheless, this example does outline a promising strategy toward optimizing chalcopyrite materials for solar water splitting, namely to combine various approaches to (a) increase the bulk/surface band gap of the material (such as alloying with S and Ga, but maybe also other elements such as Al, 64 Ag, 65 or B 66 ), and (b) modify the surface to achieve a large (r) work function. In approach (a), it even appears possible to combine different alloying approaches (i.e., simultaneous S and Ga alloying) for favorable results.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic Structure of Chalcopyrite Surfaces for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

et al. 2023

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The electronic surface level positions of different chalcopyrite [Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2] thin-film absorbers are presented, and their suitability for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is discussed. For efficient PEC water splitting, electrode surfaces must exhibit suitable band edge energies (i.e., the conduction band minimum, CBM, and the valence band maximum, VBM) to enable hydrogen and oxygen evolution. The VBM and CBM at the sample surfaces were experimentally derived under vacuum conditions using direct and inverse photoemission. By measuring the work function at the surface, the band edge energies can be correlated to the normal hydrogen electrode and compared with the reduction and oxidation potentials necessary to drive PEC water splitting. By studying several chalcopyrite variants differing in growth process, composition, stoichiometry, and surface treatment, strategies are derived to optimize chalcopyrite PEC devices with respect to the redox potentials for solar water splitting.

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Swarm‐Optimized ZnO/CdS/CIGS/GaAs Solar Cell for Enhanced Efficiency and Thermal Resilience

Manzoor,

Hussain

et al. 2024

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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Optimizing solar cell design is vital for boosting efficiency, cutting production costs, and meeting the increasing demand for renewable energy solutions. Through meticulous adjustments in material compositions and device architectures, optimization enhances energy conversion efficiency, making solar power more competitive and adaptable across various applications. This article presents the optimization and efficiency enhancement of a ZnO/CdS/CIGS solar cell with GaAs. The optimization process utilizes the particle swarm optimization algorithm with a step‐by‐step approach. Solar cells are designed using SCAPS‐1D software, and optimization is performed using Python. The optimized ZnO/CdS/CIGS solar cell achieves an efficiency of 32.4%, which rises to 44.7% upon integrating a GaAs layer. Further efficiency gains are observed, reaching 53.2% through back contact optimization, providing a power density of 54 mW cm−2. Optimization also notices a significant improvement in quantum efficiency. The cells are tested under concentrated solar irradiance (1000–10 000 W m−2) and temperatures (300–800 K). Results show that at 10 000 W m−2 and 800 K, the ZnO/CdS/CIGS/GaAs cell requires 53.9% less material than the ZnO/CdS/CIGS cell. Thus, adding GaAs enhances efficiency and thermal resilience, making it ideal for concentrated photovoltaics.

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Effect of rapid thermal annealing of copper indium aluminium gallium diselenide solar cell devices and its deposition challenges

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Diode Factor in Solar Cells with Metastable Defects and Back Contact Recombination

Diode Factor in Solar Cells with Metastable Defects and Back Contact Recombination

Electronic Structure of Chalcopyrite Surfaces for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production

Swarm‐Optimized ZnO/CdS/CIGS/GaAs Solar Cell for Enhanced Efficiency and Thermal Resilience

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