Published in

Cambridge University Press, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2(25), p. 532-538, 2019

DOI: 10.1017/s1431927619000151

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Microstructural Characterization of Sulfurization Effects in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Film Solar Cells

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

AbstractSurface sulfurization of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) absorbers is a commonly applied technique to improve the conversion efficiency of the corresponding solar cells, via increasing the bandgap towards the heterojunction. However, the resulting device performance is understood to be highly dependent on the thermodynamic stability of the chalcogenide structure at the upper region of the absorber. The present investigation provides a high-resolution chemical analysis, using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and laser-pulsed atom probe tomography, to determine the sulfur incorporation and chemical re-distribution in the absorber material. The post-sulfurization treatment was performed by exposing the CIGSe surface to elemental sulfur vapor for 20 min at 500°C. Two distinct sulfur-rich phases were found at the surface of the absorber exhibiting a layered structure showing In-rich and Ga-rich zones, respectively. Furthermore, sulfur atoms were found to segregate at the absorber grain boundaries showing concentrations up to ~7 at% with traces of diffusion outwards into the grain interior.