• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.298-305
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• 1995

Copper-indium diselenide, $CuInSe_2$, thin films have been fabricated by selenizing Cu/In stacked layers with different sputtered Cu/(Cu+ln) mole ratios at 450.deg. C for 1hr on alumina substrates. The selenium source was selenium vapor. Microstructure, crystallization, and composition of the selenized $CuInSe_2$ films were examined by using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Electrical resistivity and hall effects were also measured to investigate the electrical properties. As the sputtered Cu/(Cu+In) mole ratio of In/Cu layer increased, the amounts of void and CuSe phase in the selenized films increased but the composition of $CuInSe_2$ phase was the same regardless of the sputtered mole ratio. Comparing the electrical properties of $CuInSe_2$ thin film before and after the chemical etching, it was seen that the electrical resistivity, carrier concentration, and carrier mobility of the selenized films were affected by the amount of CuSe phase which seemed to increase primarily the hole concentration of the selenized films.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.21-26
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• 2008

Solar cells are renewable energy source which is not only environmentally friendly but also economically viable. For that matter, thin film materials are in observed with great in terest by a number of sources throughout the nations. Among these, CdTe (Cadium telluride) and CIS (copper indium diselenide) are the latest commercial products that are gathering attention in the solar cells markets. However there are some downsides to this newly invention. Since the materials are embedded, in the occasion of damage, certain amount of module residue can be released to water or soil. This paper outlines the results of our outdoor leaching experiments on photovoltaic (PV) samples broken into small fragments and been observed for 1 year.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.84-87
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• 2010

Copper-indium-diselenide (CIS) particles were prepared by the electrochemical reduction from the mixture solution of corresponding ion compounds. The prepared CIS was used as an insertion layer or a blending component in the organic photovoltaic bulk heterojunction cells composed of poly(3-octylthiophene) and fullerene. The increase of CIS content resulted in the rapid decrease of the open-circuit voltage as well as short-circuit current. The photovoltaic parameters were analyzed in relation to the structures, composition, and morphology of the photovoltaic blends.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.853-856
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• 2009

Highly polycrystalline copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2, CIS) thin films were deposited on glass or ITO glass substrates by two-stage metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at relatively mild conditions, using Cuand In/Se-containing precursors. First, pure Cu thin film was prepared on glass or ITO glass substrates by using a single-source precursor, bis(ethylbutyrylacetate)copper(II) or bis(ethylisobutyrylacetato)copper(II). Second, on the resulting Cu films, tris(N,N-ethylbutyldiselenocarbamato)indium(III) was treated to produce CuInSe2 films by MOCVD method at 400 ${^{\circ}C}$. These precursors are very stable in ambient conditions. In our process, it was quite easy to obtain high quality CIS thin films with less impurities and uniform thickness. Also, it was found that it is easy to control the stoichiometric ratio of relevant elements on demands, leading to Cu or In rich CIS thin films. These CIS films were analyzed by XRD, SEM, EDX, and Near-IR spectroscopy. The optical band gap of the stoichiometric CIS films was about 1.06 eV, which is within an optimal range for harvesting solar radiation energy.

• Solar Energy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.73-76
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• 1988

Thick films based on the mature crystalline silicon technology are expected to exhibit eversmaller cost reduction. The thin-film-based technology is, however, expected to exhibit a much sharper drop in cost as it develops. In this report, technology and recent R & D of thin film solar cell, such as amorphous silicon, cadnium telluride, copper indium diselenide and gallium arsenide, are described. Perspectives of world photovoltaic market and solar cell price are also described.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.376-376
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• 2011

I-III-VI2 chalcopyrite compounds, particularly copper, indium, gallium selenide(Cu(InxGa1-x)Se2, CIGS), are effective light-absorbing materials in thin-film solar application. They are direct band-gap semiconductors with correspondingly high optical absorption coefficients. Also they are stable under long-term excitation. CIS (CIGS) solar cell reached conversion efficiencies as high as 19.5%. Several methods to prepare CIS (CIGS) absorber films have been reported, such as co-evaporation, sputtering, selenization, and electrodeposition. Until now, co-evaporation is the most successful technique for the preparation of CIS (CIGS) in terms of solar efficiency, but it seems difficult to scale up. CIS solar cells have been hindered by high costs associated with a fabrication process. Therefore, inorganic colloidal ink suitable for a scalable coating process could be a key step in the development of low-cost solar cells. Here, we will present the preparation of CIS photo absorption layer by a solution process using novel metal precursors. Chalcopyrite copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2) nanocrystals ranging from 5 to 20nm in diameter were synthesized by arrested precipitation in solution. For the fabrication of CIS photo absorption layer, the CuInSe2 colloidal ink was prepared by dispersing in organic solvent and used to drop-casting on molybdenum substrate. We have characterized the nanoparticless and CIS layer by XRD, SEM, TEM, and ICP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.86-87
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• 2009

High quality $CuInSe_2$ (CIS) were grown on GaAs substrate by using the hot wall epitaxy method. The behavior of point defects in the CIS layer investigated by using photoluminescence (PL) at 10 K. Point defects originating from $V_{Cu}$, $V_{Se}$, $Cu_{int}$, and $Se_{int}$ were classified as donor or acceptor types. These PL results also led us to confirm that the p-type CIS layer had obviously converted into n-type after the Cu atmosphere treatment. Finally, we found that the In in the CIS layer did not form the native defects, because In existed in the form of stable bonds in the CIS layer.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.434-438
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• 2011

Polycrystalline $CuInSe_2$ (CIS) was synthesized through solvothermal reactions in toluene with selected alkyl amines as complexing agents. The alkyl amines were used as reducing agent of selenium and catalytic ligands, enhancing the formation of CIS compounds in the colloidal solution. Toluene does not contribute the syntheses directly but minimizes the amounts of amines required for single phase CIS. We systematically studied the reactivity of amine compounds for the solovothermal syntheses, determined critical concentration of amine and the shortest reaction time. Crystallinity, morphology, chemical composition, and band gap of the prepared $CuInSe_2$ were respectively measured by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.39-46
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• 2014

The performances of three different types of photovoltaic (PV) module technologies namely, copper-indium-diselenide (CIGS), mono-crystalline silicon (mo-Si) and amorphous silicon (a-Si) have been comparatively studied in the grid-connected system for more than a year under the tropical monsoon climate of Thailand. The yields, performance ratios and system efficiencies for the respective PV module technologies have been calculated and a comparison is presented here. The performance ratios of the initial operation year for CIGS showed highest among the compared technologies under Thailand climate conditions by marking 97.0% while 89.6% for a-Si and 81.5% for mo-Si. Although mo-Si has shown highest efficiencies all over the period, under the testing conditions, the operating efficiency of mo-Si was down-graded from its reference value mainly due to high operating temperature and the efficiency of the tested CIGS module was also found as high as that of mo-Si in the study. Accordingly, outdoor assessment shows that CIGS modules have demonstrated high performance in terms of yields and performance ratios in Thailand climate conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 1995

Abstract The principal factor affecting the increased penetration of photovoltaics into the marketplace is cost. For traditional crystalline silicon modules, half of the cost is that of the silicon wafers. As a result much effort has centered on reducing this cost by the use of thin film technologies. Substantial technical progress has been made towards improving the efficiencies of polycrystalline thin film solar cells to reduce the production costs. Progress in semiconductor deposition techniques has also been rapid. The most mature of these are based on polycrystalline silicon (p - Si), amorphous silicon (a - Si), copper indium diselenide $SuInSe_2$(CIS), and cadmium telluride (CdTe). This paper explores the recent advances in the development of polycrystalline thin film solar cells.