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Study of Ammonium Sulfide Surface Treatment for Ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 with Different Cu/(Ga + In) Ratios
Author(s) -
Buldu Dilara Gokcen,
de Wild Jessica,
Kohl Thierry,
Brammertz Guy,
Birant Gizem,
Meuris Marc,
Poortmans Jef,
Vermang Bart
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.202000307
Subject(s) - copper indium gallium selenide solar cells , photoluminescence , materials science , sulfide , ammonium , thin film , analytical chemistry (journal) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , chromatography
In ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) film solar cells, the CdS/CIGS interface may become one of the limiting factors for efficiency. The first step toward reducing the impact of this problem could be a surface treatment process to improve the quality of the front interface. The purpose of this study is to have a better understanding of the effect of wet chemical surface treatment, using ammonium sulfide ((NH 4 ) 2 S), on CIGS thin film layers with different Cu/(Ga + In) (CGI) ratios. Herein, photoluminescence (PL) and time‐resolved PL (TRPL) studies are conducted on bare CIGS, ammonium sulfide–treated CIGS thin films, and samples with CdS. In bare CIGS, CGI ratio–dependent changes in PL are observed on both a low‐energy (defect related transition) and a high‐energy peak (band‐to‐band transition). After the surface treatment, the PL maximum increases by factors ranging from 4 to 11 depending on the CGI ratio, accompanied by a slower decay. Trends with similar improvement as in the PL study are observed in the performance of the solar cells. It is shown that the impact of the surface treatment is beneficial independently of the CGI ratio of the absorber layers. In all cases, the treatment is shown to improve the efficiency.