Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub>2</sub>
 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

Jackson, Philip; Hariskos, Dimitrios; Wuerz, Roland; Kiowski, Oliver; Bauer, Andreas; Friedlmeier, Theresa Magorian; Powalla, Michael

doi:10.1002/pssr.201409520

Cited by 868 publications

(578 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Efficiencies of solar cells using CIGSe as the light absorber are steadily increasing thanks to detailed investigation of device parameters. [1][2][3] The defect microstructure influences optical and electronic properties of the absorber material. Understanding its evolution during the manufacturing and during the solar-cell operation is impossible without knowledge of the fundamental parameters of point defects in CIGSe or eventually in its parent materials CuInSe 2 and CuGaSe 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂

Malitckaya

Komsa

Havu

et al. 2017

Adv Elect Materials

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as the composition of the sample changes from Cu-rich to Cu-poor, so that in the Cupoor samples only one peak is detected. Although only the Cu-poor material is important for actual devices Cu-rich samples give indispensable information for defect identification.First-principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) can be used to obtain important, complementary information about point defects such as formation energies and charge transition levels. [6] A plethora of studies concerning defects in CuInSe 2 and CuGaSe 2 has been published over the last two decades. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The most recent DFT investigations have employed hybrid functionals, which can overcome the energy band gap problem plaguing the older studies and can thus also provide information about the defect level positions within the band gap. [9][10][11][12][13] The results of different calculations agree well with respect to general trends in formation energies of the most important defects, such as the copper vacancy (V Cu ), indium antisite on copper place (In Cu ), and copper interstitial (Cu int ). However, the results differ in some important cases. For instance, there are clearly different values for the ionization levels within the band gap for the copper antisite on the indium place (Cu In ) and indium vacancy (V In ). Based on the formation energy calculations, V Cu and Cu In are abundant acceptors, and are most probably responsible for some of the above-mentioned PL peaks, but it is unclear whether any native defect can be responsible for the third acceptor level.One important goal of the present work was to gain a perspective on the present unsatisfactory situation in modeling point defects in CIGSe and to approach the ultimate accuracy by which DFT is able to predict the properties of bulk crystalline materials. [14] First we carried out a detailed benchmarking of the first-principles computational scheme used. We checked effects due to the supercell size and shape, as well as those of the finite-size supercell correction scheme. We used also two very different implementations of the first-principles DFT method, which differ in describing valence-core electron interaction and electron wave functions (see below). After finding the computational parameters yielding accurate results, we calculated formation energies and charge transition levels for different acceptor candidates in CuInSe 2 . By carefully considering the relevant chemical potential limits, we were able to draw conclusions about the abundances of different defects. In addition to simple native defects, we have also considered a set of complexes formed by them. Our paper is organized as follows.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂

Malitckaya

Komsa

Havu

et al. 2017

Adv Elect Materials

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“…[11][12][13][14][15] This often acts as a bottleneck in the use of these NCs for photoactive applications. Typically, multinary metal chalcogenides possess many desirable attributes, such as high absorption coefficient and high photo-stability for optoelectronic applications, [16][17][18][19][20][21] and a record power conversion efficiency of 21.7% has been obtained in the bulk form following physical deposition techniques, 22 which is close to the efficiency of polycrystalline silicon solar cells. But, when it comes to nanoscale, the presence of multiple trap states and the lack of the knowledge about their ultrafast carrier trapping dynamics limit their efficiency in device-based applications.…”

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confidence: 99%

Real-Space Mapping of Surface Trap States in CIGSe Nanocrystals Using 4D Electron Microscopy

et al. 2016

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Surface trap states in copper indium gallium selenide semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs), which serve as undesirable channels for nonradiative carrier recombination, remain a great challenge impeding the development of solar and optoelectronics devices based on these NCs. In order to design efficient passivation techniques to minimize these trap states, a precise knowledge about the charge carrier dynamics on the NCs surface is essential. However, selective mapping of surface traps requires capabilities beyond the reach of conventional laser spectroscopy and static electron microscopy; it can only be accessed by using a one-of-a-kind, second-generation four-dimensional scanning ultrafast electron microscope (4D S-UEM) with subpicosecond temporal and nanometer spatial resolutions. Here, we precisely map the collective surface charge carrier dynamics of copper indium gallium selenide NCs as a function of the surface trap states before and after surface passivation in real space and time using S-UEM. The time-resolved snapshots clearly demonstrate that the density of the trap states is significantly reduced after zinc sulfide (ZnS) shelling. Furthermore, the removal of trap states and elongation of carrier lifetime are confirmed by the increased photocurrent of the self-biased photodetector fabricated using the shelled NCs.

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“…[3][4][5] However, the conversion efficiency of CZTSSe thin-film solar cells is still too low to replace commercial CuInGaSe 2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells (21.6%). 6 Since conventional CZTSSe devices employ a Mo back contact that reflects light from the rear side, devices can only be illuminated from the front side. One way to increase conversion efficiency is to utilize a bifacial cell design that replaces the Mo contact with a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer, which would allow simultaneous illumination from both the front and back sides of the device.…”

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confidence: 99%

High efficiency bifacial Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin-film solar cells on transparent conducting oxide glass substrates

2016

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In this work, transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) have been employed as a back contact instead of Mo on Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) thin-film solar cells in order to examine the feasibility of bifacial Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells based on a vacuum process. It is found that the interfacial reaction between flourine doped tin oxide (FTO) or indium tin oxide (ITO) and the CZTSe precursor is at odds with the conventional CZTSe/Mo reaction. While there is no interfacial reaction on CZTSe/FTO, indium in CZTSe/ITO was significantly diffused into the CZTSe layers; consequently, a SnO2 layer was formed on the ITO substrate. Under bifacial illumination, we achieved a power efficiency of 6.05% and 4.31% for CZTSe/FTO and CZTSe/ITO, respectively.

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Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

Abstract: P. Jackson et al.: Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

Cited by 868 publications

References 7 publications

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂

Real-Space Mapping of Surface Trap States in CIGSe Nanocrystals Using 4D Electron Microscopy

High efficiency bifacial Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin-film solar cells on transparent conducting oxide glass substrates

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Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

Abstract: P. Jackson et al.: Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

Cited by 868 publications

References 7 publications

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe2

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe2

Real-Space Mapping of Surface Trap States in CIGSe Nanocrystals Using 4D Electron Microscopy

High efficiency bifacial Cu2ZnSnSe4 thin-film solar cells on transparent conducting oxide glass substrates

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Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7%

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂

First‐Principles Modeling of Point Defects and Complexes in Thin‐Film Solar‐Cell Absorber CuInSe₂