Open AccessMultimodal X‐ray imaging of grain‐level properties and performance in a polycrystalline solar cell
Author(s) -
Ulvestad A.,
Hruszkewycz S. O.,
Holt M. V.,
Hill M. O.,
Calvo-Almazán I.,
Maddali S.,
Huang X.,
Yan H.,
Nazaretski E.,
Chu Y. S.,
Lauhon L. J.,
Rodkey N.,
Bertoni M. I.,
Stuckelberger M. E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of synchrotron radiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 99
ISSN - 1600-5775
DOI - 10.1107/s1600577519003606
Subject(s) - crystallite , grain boundary , solar cell , materials science , limiting , microscopy , lattice (music) , grain size , x ray , optoelectronics , crystallography , optics , nanotechnology , microstructure , chemistry , composite material , physics , metallurgy , mechanical engineering , acoustics , engineering
The factors limiting the performance of alternative polycrystalline solar cells as compared with their single‐crystal counterparts are not fully understood, but are thought to originate from structural and chemical heterogeneities at various length scales. Here, it is demonstrated that multimodal focused nanobeam X‐ray microscopy can be used to reveal multiple aspects of the problem in a single measurement by mapping chemical makeup, lattice structure and charge collection efficiency simultaneously in a working solar cell. This approach was applied to micrometre‐sized individual grains in a Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 polycrystalline film packaged in a working device. It was found that, near grain boundaries, collection efficiency is increased, and that in these regions the lattice parameter of the material is expanded. These observations are discussed in terms of possible physical models and future experiments.