Fabrication of Regularly Arranged Chalcopyrite Micro Solar Cells via Femtosecond Laser-Induced Forward Transfer for Concentrator Application

Abstract

A laser-based bottom-up technique for the fabrication of Cu­(In,Ga)­Se2 (CIGSe) micro solar cells is presented. We use femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) to transport a metallic precursor composed of copper, indium, and gallium onto a molybdenum back contact layer on a glass substrate. A CIGSe absorber forms by subsequent selenization. An array of micro absorbers with defined spacing is fabricated to solar cells and characterized under concentrated light illumination. The solar cell array exhibited a conversion efficiency of 1.4‰ at 1 sun as well as a significant efficiency enhancement of 68% rel. under 20-fold concentration. This work demonstrates the possibility of directly grown micrometer-sized solar cells based on chalcogenide absorber layers, enabling effective material usage.

Femtosecond laser-assisted fabrication of chalcopyrite micro-concentrator photovoltaics

“…An overall very similar behavior is found for CIGSe microcells fabricated by the LIFT approach, as illustrated by the results of IV measurements shown in Fig. 16 and in [25]. Here, I SC also increases linearly, but V OC decreases above 30–40 suns, leading, together with a quick decrease in FF, to a maximum in efficiency at 20 suns.…”

“…Subsequently, ZnO and finally Al:ZnO layers were created in a sputtering process. Details for CdS and ZnO/Al:ZnO deposition can be found in [25]. Fig.…”

Photothermal Synthesis of Copper Sulfide Nanowires for Direct Lithography of Chalcogenides on a Chip

“…In addition, the localized photo-induced transformation represents the basic principle for direct laser beam lithography, provided that a selective solvent for the CTC is available. Such mask-less lithography processes that convert a precursor material into a micropattern of the target material without the need for photoresist deposition and lift-off have been investigated and proposed for industrial use. , Potential applications for this sustainable fabrication of micro structured layers of copper sulfide nanocrystals and other chalcogenides include thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices and solar cells and photosensors. , …”

“…26,43 Potential applications for this sustainable fabrication of micro structured layers of copper sulfide nanocrystals and other chalcogenides include thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices and solar cells and photosensors. 44,45 ■ EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS CTC nanowires of composition [Cu(tu)]Cl•1/2H 2 O were synthesized electrochemically in a three-electrode configuration, as described in earlier work. 18 We used a 0.25 mm thick platinum foil (99.9% purity, Alfa Aesar) as a working electrode, a graphite foil (Alfa Aesar) of 1 mm thickness as a counter electrode, and a standard Ag/AgCl reference electrode.…”

Micro-sized thin-film solar cells via area-selective electrochemical deposition for concentrator photovoltaics application

“…For the intensity range explored, V oc continuously increases, with a slightly reduced slope at higher illumination intensities, similar to the observations by Paire et al 19 for co-evaporated CIGSe micro-cells. On the other hand, Heidmann et al 45 and Ringleb et al 46 reported a decrease of V oc at around 30-40 suns for CISe micro-solar cells prepared via bottom-up laser nucleation and LIFT techniques. In our case, an average rate of increase of around 127 and 150 mV dec −1 for S500 and S1500, respectively, is determined.…”