Improved photoelectrochemical performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films prepared by pulsed electrodeposition
2013 (English)In: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, E-ISSN 1941-7012, Vol. 5, article id 031602Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Solar cells based on polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber layers have yielded the highest conversion efficiency among all the thin-film technologies. CIGS thin-films possess large optical absorption coefficient (≈105 cm-1) and a suitable bandgap of ≈ 1.20 eV for an ideal stoichiometry of CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2. In the present study, Direct Current (DC) and Pulsed Current (PC) electrodeposition techniques are employed to obtain the near ideal stoichiometric CIGS thin-films on a Mo foil using a two electrode system at a constant potential. Deposited films are annealed at 550 °C under Ar atmosphere. Characterization of the annealed CIGS films is performed using SEM-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and photoelectrochemistry to study the morphology, stoichiometry, phase constitution, and the photoelectrochemical response. PC deposition offered suitable manipulation of various parameters, which has helped in obtaining a better quality stoichiometric single phase chalcopyrite structured CIGS thin films with the elimination of unwanted secondary phases like Cu2-xSe. An improved photoelectrochemical performance, characteristic of a p-type semiconductor, is observed for the PC deposited CIGS films. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2013. Vol. 5, article id 031602
Keywords [en]
Electrodeposition technique, Optical absorption coefficients, Photo-electrochemistry, Photoelectrochemical performance, Photoelectrochemical response, Pulsed electrodeposition, Thin-film technology, Two-electrode systems, Deposition, Electrochemistry, Electrodeposition, Gallium, Semiconducting selenium compounds, Stoichiometry, Thin films, X ray diffraction, X ray spectroscopy, Copper
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-8473OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-8473DiVA, id: diva2:860123
2015-10-102015-10-082024-01-17Bibliographically approved