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The Zn(S,O,OH)/ZnMgO buffer in thin‐film Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) 2 ‐based solar cells part II: Magnetron sputtering of the ZnMgO buffer layer for in‐line co‐evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells
Author(s) -
Hariskos D.,
Fuchs B.,
Menner R.,
Naghavi N.,
Hubert C.,
Lincot D.,
Powalla M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.897
Subject(s) - copper indium gallium selenide solar cells , buffer (optical fiber) , sputter deposition , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemical bath deposition , layer (electronics) , sputtering , cavity magnetron , thin film , optoelectronics , chemistry , nanotechnology , chromatography , telecommunications , computer science
Abstract A ZnS/Zn 1‐x Mg x O buffer combination was developed to replace the CdS/i‐ZnO layers in in‐line co‐evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS)‐based solar cells. The ZnS was deposited by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique and the Zn 1‐x Mg x O layer by RF magnetron sputtering from ceramic targets. The [Mg]/([Mg] + [Zn]) ratio in the target was varied between x = 0·0 and 0·4. The composition, the crystal structure, and the optical properties of the resulting layers were analyzed. Small laboratory cells and 10 × 10 cm 2 modules were realized with high reproducibility and enhanced stability. The transmission is improved in the wavelength region between 330 and 550 nm for the ZnS/Zn 1‐x Mg x O layers. Therefore, a large gain in the short‐circuit current density up to 12% was obtained, which resulted in higher conversion efficiencies up to 9% relative as compared to cells with the CdS/i‐ZnO buffer system. Peak efficiencies of 18% with small laboratory cells and 15·2% with 10 × 10 cm 2 mini‐modules were demonstrated. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.