Revealing and Identifying Laser-Induced Damages in CIGSe Solar Cells by Photoluminescence Spectroscopy

Schultz, Christof; Basulto, Guillermo Antonio Farias; Ring, Sven; Wolf, Christian; Schlatmann, Rutger; Stegemann, Bert

doi:10.1109/jphotov.2017.2729888

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…To optimize this process, the force and the scribing speed must be finely adjusted. Laser scribing produces better results, with smoother trenches and better material removal; however, they have not yet replaced mechanical processing of this scribe due to potential damage to the Mo layer underneath if the laser settings are not very finely tuned [Schultz, 2017]. Even if Mo is preserved, it is possible that melted CIGS is left at the edges of the trench, and the composition of the material is changed well beyond the edges of the trench [Westin, 2008], leading to deterioration of the material.…”

Section: Monolithic Interconnect For Cigs Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even if Mo is preserved, it is possible that melted CIGS is left at the edges of the trench, and the composition of the material is changed well beyond the edges of the trench [Westin, 2008], leading to deterioration of the material. A comparison of the results of a mechanical process vs laser scribing is also presented in [Schultz, 2017]; it is possible to see how the width of the trench is three times smaller with laser processing, although the counterpart for this improvement is an increased series and contact resistance.…”

Section: Monolithic Interconnect For Cigs Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization and simulation of CIGS thin-film solar cells and interconnects

Lorbada¹

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Prospects of photovoltaic solar energy have improved in the recent years, due to the aim of global actors to increase the ratio of green energy produced. In the market of photovoltaics, thin-film solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 material, (the cells under study in this thesis do not include Sulphur, and the material is known in short as CIGS) are a well-established technology that conjugates the advantages of thin-film devices with abundant and non-toxic materials, in contrast with other thin-film technologies based on toxic cadmium and the somewhat scarce tellurium. Another promising characteristic of this technology is found in the recent achievements in efficiency that put CIGS devices on par with multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. However, this technology presents some issues regarding its performance that may disadvantage it with respect to the other well-stablished technologies. Although the efficiency of the best laboratory scale solar cell based on CIGS is now close to that of multi-crystalline Si, there is still room for improvement of absorber and interface properties; the efficiency of commercial modules is also still behind that of the best lab-scale device due to performance losses introduced by the interconnection between cells. Moreover, this material also suffers from a somewhat poorer stability against certain operation conditions that are typically found in PV installations such as light-soaking or reversebiasing of cells due to shading for instance. The most devastating condition is known as potential induced degradation, which affects the performance dramatically and might result in warranty breaching for the manufacturer, reducing the economic attractiveness of this technology.The poorer performance and stability of CIGS technology can only be addressed with a good understanding of the electronic properties of the devices. The aim of this work is to provide knowledge on certain issues that affect the performance and stability of CIGS solar cells. The first issue is the impact of the interconnection between cells on the performance of the device. The scribing process that divides the module in cells results in three trenches (named as P1, P2 and P3) with different purposes. The first trench (P1) separates the back-contact of two adjacent cells, the second trench (P2) connects the front contact of a cell with the back-contact of the next adjacent cell and the third trench (P3) separates the front contact of two adjacent cells. Nonetheless, the P1 trench is typically filled with absorber material (CIGS), which does not provide a perfect isolation and may result in a significant shunt. The impact of the P1 shunt is studied in this thesis with 2D simulations and the characterization of devices (I-V, imaging techniques and C-V) with interconnection, considering the properties of the absorber, and an equivalent circuit model, based on a Junction Field-Effect Transistor is proposed to represent the behavior of the P1 shunt. Metastable changes in the absorber (that are typical of CIGS devices...

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Section: Monolithic Interconnect For Cigs Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Monolithic Interconnect For Cigs Modulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and simulation of CIGS thin-film solar cells and interconnects

Lorbada¹

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Laser Patterning of Thin Films

Stegemann

Schultz

2019

Digital Encyclopedia of Applied Physics

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Laser‐based patterning of thin films has rapidly revolutionized materials processing over the last years and is increasingly replacing conventional patterning techniques such as photolithography or mechanical patterning. Currently, it is widely used for both fundamental research and practical applications. According to the desired requirements, laser and processing parameters can be specifically selected for selective, precise, reproducible, and nearly damage‐free patterning of single layers and layer stacks of a wide variety of materials. This article summarizes the fundamentals and basic processes of laser ablation and discusses the influence of the essential laser parameters on laser–matter interaction. Moreover, an overview on practical aspects such as different optical setups, process control and approaches for selective layer ablation are given. A variety of current examples for the application of lasers for patterning thin films is introduced with a clear focus on photovoltaic applications. These examples highlight that laser patterning is a versatile, flexible, and reliable technique for processing a wide range of thin‐film materials, which will be increasingly implemented in the future.

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