Preparation of CuIn(S,Se)₂ films by PLD of precursor layers and post‐annealing and their application to solar cells

Abstract

Cu‐In‐S precursor films were deposited at various substrate temperatures by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). CuIn(S,Se)2 films were prepared by post‐annealing the Cu‐In‐S precursor films in H2S and Se atmosphere. CuIn(S,Se)2 solar cells with a device structure of Au/ITO/i‐ZnO/CdS/CuIn(S,Se)2/Mo/soda‐lime (SLG) glass were fabricated and characterized. Higher conversion efficiency was obtained for the CuIn(S,Se)2 solar cell with the precursor film deposited at room temperature. The phase and microstructure of the Cu‐In‐S precursor and the annealed CuIn(S,Se)2 films were examined by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We found that the quality of the CuIn(S,Se)2 films was strongly affected by the deposition temperature of Cu‐In‐S precursor films. We discuss the grain growth and sintering in CuIn(S,Se)2 films on the basis of the results of XRD and SEM. The highest conversion efficiency of 6.38% (Voc = 521 mV, Jsc = 22.6 mA cm−2, FF = 0.541) was obtained for the CuIn(S,Se)2 solar cell with the precursor film deposited at room temperature and post‐annealed at 620 °C. The solar cell was analyzed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Closed‐Loop Multi‐Objective Optimization for Cu–Sb–S Photo‐Electrocatalytic Materials’ Discovery

“…[13,14] Copper antimony sulfides, including Cu 3 SbS 4 and CuSbS 2 , have recently been identified as promising light absorbers for solar cells, [15][16][17] because of their tunable optical and electrical properties depending on the atomic structures and compositions. [18][19][20] However, there is little work exploring this class of materials as PEC catalysts, and the state-of-the-art photocurrent for Cu-Sb-S materials is −4.2 mA cm −2 at 0 V RHE . [21] Instead of the traditional trial-and-error approach involving time-and labor-intensive experimentation, high-throughput experimentations (HTE) coupled with a machine learning (ML) algorithm are a promising approach that allows for an accelerated catalyst discovery process.…”

Chemically Prepared Cu-Rich CuSbSe2Nanocrystals for Solar Cells and Thermoelectric Power Applications

“…[5][6][7] Among them, copper antimony selenide (CuSbSe 2 ), owning band gap of ∼1 eV and exhibited high absorption coefficient of > 10 5 cm −1 at short wavelengths. It has demonstrated technologic potential application in thin film solar cells.. 8,9 CuSbSe 2 photovoltaic device was fabricated in 2018 10 where it reported 4% photoelectrical conversion efficiency which is the highest efficiency reported up to now. Recently, CuSbSe 2 films have been used as a low mismatch hole transport layer to improve the photoelectrical conversion efficiency of solar cells based Sb 2 Se 3 .…”