Investigation of CuInZnSe2 thin films for solar cell applications

Band gap engineering of RF-sputtered CuInZnSe2 thin films for indium-reduced thin-film solar cell application

“…However, the availability of expensive indium (In) and gallium (Ga) elements in a Cu(In 1Àx Ga x )Se 2 alloy is a recent focus of discussion regarding the high material cost of large-scale solar cell production [2]. In conjunction with the effort of reducing indium in thin-film solar cells, recently, the novel (CuInSe 2 ) 1Àx À(2ZnSe) x alloy for solar cell application has attracted a considerable attention since the first successful fabrication of CuInZnSe 2 (CIZSe) thin-film solar cell [3]. The (CuInSe 2 ) x À(2ZnSe) 1Àx solid solution was reported to have a band gap variation from 1.0 eV (CuInSe 2 ) to 2.67 eV (ZnSe) and a high absorption coefficient (10 4 cm À1 ) within the visible and nearinfra-red regions [3,4].…”

“…In conjunction with the effort of reducing indium in thin-film solar cells, recently, the novel (CuInSe 2 ) 1Àx À(2ZnSe) x alloy for solar cell application has attracted a considerable attention since the first successful fabrication of CuInZnSe 2 (CIZSe) thin-film solar cell [3]. The (CuInSe 2 ) x À(2ZnSe) 1Àx solid solution was reported to have a band gap variation from 1.0 eV (CuInSe 2 ) to 2.67 eV (ZnSe) and a high absorption coefficient (10 4 cm À1 ) within the visible and nearinfra-red regions [3,4]. The motivation underlying this effort was to follow by analogy the band gap engineering of a chalcopyrite CuInSe 2 when it is alloyed with CuGaSe 2 .…”

“…It is also projected in the near future that the presence of low-cost and abundant element zinc in the (CuInSe 2 ) 1Àx À(2ZnSe) x alloy may possibly open an opportunity to an indium-reduced thin-film solar cell. Nonetheless, in addition to the first CIZSe thin-film preparation technique [3] it is realized that the study and preparation method of CIZSe thin film has not been extensively investigated. In this study, we demonstrate the successful preparation and band gap engineering of radio frequency (RF)-sputtered CIZSe thin films on Corning 1737 and Mo-coated sodalime glass for indium-reduced solar absorber material.…”

Cu2ZnSnSe4Thin Films Preparation by Pulsed Laser Deposition Using Powder Compacted Target

“…It seems that a highly (112) preferred orientation might be a particular structural characteristic of chalcopyrite and Cu-based chalcopyrite quaternary compounds films deposited by PLD method 5,10,[13][14][15] . It is worth noting that the (112) reflection is of beneficial for attaining good lattice match with CdS buffer layer in the thin film solar cell structure for attaining a cell's high efficiency 5) . The peak intensity of (220/204) reflection are found to enhance further by depositing films at longer deposition time as shown in Fig.…”

“…Several efforts have been performed either to reduce or to substitute Indium (In) with inexpensive elements, for instances, using Aluminum (Al) instead of Gallium (Ga) as in Chalcopyrite Cu(In,Al)Se 2 solar cell , replacing Indium (In) by Zinc (Zn) and Tin (Sn) as in Kesterite Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 solar cell for solar absorber layer [2][3][4][5] . These solar cells demonstrated promising cell efficiencies with their band gap close to the solar cell band gap requirement value.…”