• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.39-44
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• 2015

$Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ (${\beta}-CIGS$) has a band gap of 1.35 eV which is an optimum value for high solar-energy conversion efficiency. However, ${\beta}-CIGS$ film was not well characterized yet due to lower efficiency compared to $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (${\alpha}-CIGS$). In this work, ${\beta}-CIGS$ films were fabricated by a three-stage co-evaporation of elemental sources with various Se fluxes. As the Se flux increased, the crystallinity of ${\beta}-CIGS$ phase was improved from the analysis of Raman spectroscopy and a deep-level defect was reduced from the analysis of photoluminescence spectroscopy. A Se treatment of the ${\beta}-CIGS$ film at $200^{\circ}C$ increased Ga content and decreased Cu content at the surface of the film. With the Se treatment at $200^{\circ}C$, the cell efficiency was greatly improved for the CIGS films prepared with low Se flux due to the increase of short-circuit current and fill factor. It was found that the main reason of performance improvement was lower Cu content at the surface instead of higher Ga content.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2011

CIGS solar cells are kind of thin film solar cells, which are studied several years. CdS buffer layer that makes heterojunction between window layer and absorbing layer was one of issue in the CIGS solar cell study. New types of buffer layer consisted of indium sulfide are being studied these days owing to high price and environmental harmful of CdS. In this study, we demonstrated electrochemical synthesis of indium sulfide film as a buffer layer, which is cheaper and faster than other methods. A uniform indium sulfide film was obtained by applying two different alternating potentials. The band gap of the film was optimized by controlling temperature during the electrochemical synthesis. Using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction method we confirmed that ${\beta}$-indium sulfide was formed on ITO electrode surface.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.61.1-61.1
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• 2010

$CuIn_{1-x}-GaxSe_2$ based materials with direct bandgap and high absorption coefficient are promising materials for high efficiency hetero-junction solar cells. CIGS champion cell efficiency(19.9%, AM1.5G) is very close to polycrystalline silicon(20.3%, AM1.5G). A reduction in the price of CIGS module is required for competing with well matured silicon technology. Price reduction can be achieved by decreasing the manufacturing cost and by increasing module efficiency. Manufacturing cost is mostly dominated by capital cost. Device properties of CIGS are strongly dependent on doping, defect chemistry and structure which in turn are dependent on growth conditions. The complex chemistry of CIGS is not fully understood to optimize and scale processes. Control of the absorber grain size, structural quality, texture, composition profile in the growth direction is important to achieving reliable device performance. In the present work, CIS nanoparticles were prepared by a simple wet chemical synthesis method and their structural and optical properties were investigated. XRD patterns of as-grown nanopowders indicate CIS(Cubic), $CuSe_2$(orthorhombic) and excess selenium. Further, as-grown and annealed nanopowders were characterized by HRTEM and ICP-OES. Grain growth of the nanopowders was followed as a function of temperature using HT-XRD with overpressure of selenium. It was found that significant grain growth occurred between $300-400^{\circ}C$ accompanied by formation of ${\beta}-Cu_{2-x}Se$ at high temperature($500^{\circ}C$) consistent with Cu-Se phase diagram. The result suggests that grain growth follows VLS mechanism which would be very useful for low temperature, high quality and economic processing of CIGS based solar cells.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.103-110
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• 2019

Cu(In,Ga)₃Se₅ (β-CIGS) has a band gap of 1.35 eV, which is an optimum value for high solar-energy conversion efficiency. The effects of Cu and Ga content on the cell performance were investigated previously. However, the effect of Se content on the cell performance is not well understood yet. In this work, β-CIGS films were fabricated by three-stage co-evaporation of elemental sources with various Se fluxes at the third stage instead of at all stages. The average composition of five samples was Cu_1.05(In_0.59,Ga_0.41)3Se_y, where the stoichiometric y value is 5.03 and the stoichiometric Se/metal (Se/M) ratio is 1.24. We varied the Se/metal ratio in a range from 1.18 to 1.28. We found that the best efficiency was achieved when the Se/M ratio was 1.24, which is exactly the stoichiometric value where the CIGS grains on the CIGS surface were tightly connected and faceted. With the optimum Se/M ratio, we were able to enhance the cell efficiency of a β-CIGS solar cell from 9.6% to 12.0% by employing a Na₂S post deposition treatment. Our results indicate that Na₂S post deposition treatment is very effective to enhance the cell efficiency to a level on par with that in α-CIGS cell.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.67-67
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• 2011

Compound semiconductor/CNTs composites have shown considerably improved efficiency improvement in photovoltaic devices, which is often attributed to two different factors. One is the formation of efficient electronic energy cascade structures. The other effect of CNTs on the performance of photovoltaic devices is the decrement of interfacial resistance. The interfacial resistances at n-type/ p-type materials and/or n-type materials/TCO electrode are reduced by an outstanding electrical property of CNTs. In addition to the effects of CNTs, we report the third reason for increment of efficiency in photovoltaic devices by CNT's well-known electrical field enhancement effects. The improved ${\beta}$ values in reverse-FE currents of CIGS electrode with SWNTs layers indicate the enhancement of electrical field in photovoltaic devices, which implies the acceleration of the electron transfer rate in the cell. Due to the formation of an efficient electronic energy cascade structure and the decrease of the interfacial resistance as well as the improvement of the electrical field in the photovoltaic devices, the power conversion efficiency of electrochemically deposited superstrate-type CIGS solar cells was increased 24.3% in the presence of SWNTs and showed 10.40% conversion efficiency.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2013

$Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ is a candidate material for the top cell of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ tandem cells. This phase is often found at the surface of the $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ film during $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ cell fabrication, and plays a positive role in $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ cell performance. However, the exact properties of the $Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ film have not been extensively studied yet. In this work, $Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ films were fabricated on Mo-coated soda-lime glass substrates by a three-stage co-evaporation process. The Cu content in the film was controlled by varying the deposition time of each stage. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analyses showed that, even though the stoichiometric Cu/(In+Ga) ratio is 0.25, $Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ is easily formed in a wide range of Cu content as long as the Cu/(In+Ga) ratio is held below 0.5. The optical band gap of $Cu_{0.3}(In_{0.65}Ga_{0.35})_3Se_5$ composition was found to be 1.35eV. As the Cu/(In+Ga) ratio was decreased further below 0.5, the grain size became smaller and the band gap increased. Unlike the $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ solar cell, an external supply of Na with $Na_2S$ deposition further increased the cell efficiency of the $Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ solar cell, indicating that more Na is necessary, in addition to the Na supply from the soda lime glass, to suppress deep level defects in the $Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ film. The cell efficiency of $CdS/Cu(In,Ga)_3Se_5$ was improved from 8.8 to 11.2% by incorporating Na with $Na_2S$ deposition on the CIGS film. The fill factor was significantly improved by the Na incorporation, due to a decrease of deep-level defects.