• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.526-532
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• 2015

Solar cells with other alternative energies are being importantly recognized related with post-2020 climate change regime formation. In a point of view of materials, solar cells are classified to organic and inorganic solar cells which can provide a plant-scale electricity. In particular, recent studies about compound semiconductor solar cells, such as III-V tandem solar cells, chalcopyrite-series CIGSSe solar cells, and kesterite-series CZTSSe solar cells were rapidly accelerated. In this report, we introduce a research trend and technical issues for the compound semiconductor solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.36.1-36.1
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• 2010

While the substrate-type solar cells with Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers yield conversion efficiencies of up 20%[1], the highest published efficiency of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 superstrate solar cell is only 12.8% [2]. The commerciallized Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells are made in the substrate configuration having the stacking sequence of substrate (soda lime glass)/back contact (molybdenum)/absorber layer (Cu(In,Ga)Se2)/buffer layer (cadmium sulfide)/window layer (transparent conductive oxide)/anti reflection layer (MgF2) /grid contact. Thus, it is not possible to illuminate the substrate-type cell through the glass substrate. Rather, it is necessary to illuminate from the opposite side which requires an elaborate transparent encapsulation. In contrast to that, the configuration of superstrate solar cell allows the illumination through the glass substrate. This saves the expensive transparent encapsulation. Usually, the high quality Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber requires a high deposition temperature over 550C. Therefore, the front contact should be thermally stable in the temperature range to realize a successful superstrate-type solar cell. In this study, it was tried to make a decent superstrate-type solar cell with the thermally stable ZnO:Al layer obtained by adjusting its deposition parameters in magnetron sputtering process. The effect of deposition condition of the layer on the cell performance will be discussed together with hall measurement results and current-voltage characteristics of the cells.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.779-782
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• 2012

$CuIn_{1-x}Ga_xSe_2$ (CIGS) thin films are grown on Mo/soda lime glass using a reactive sputtering process in which a Se cracker is used to deliver reactive Se molecules. The Cu and $(In_{0.7}Ga_{0.3})_2Se_3$ targets are simultaneously sputtered under the delivery of reactive Se. The effects of Se flux on film composition are investigated. The Cu/(In+Ga) composition ratio increases as the Se flux increases at a plasma power of less than 30 W for the Cu target. The (112) crystal orientation becomes dominant, and crystal grain size is larger with Se flux. The power conversion efficiency of a solar cell fabricated using an 800-nm CIGS film is 8.5%.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.137-144
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• 2021

In this study, the microstructure of the CVD-fabricated Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGSe) absorber layer by simulating the stacking sequence used in a co-evaporation method, and changes solar cell performance were investigated. The absorber layer prepared by stacking CuSe and (In,Ga)Se between InSe is separated into Ga-free CuInSe₂ and Ga-rich CIGSe, and transformed to CIGSe by selenization heat treatment with slight improvement in the the solar cell efficiency. However, in CVD, since the supply of liquid Cu-Se is not as active as in the co-evaporation method, the nanoocrystalline layer containing a large amount of Ga remained independently in the absorption layer, which acted as a cause of the loss of J_SC and FF. Therefore, by using a precursor structure in which CuGa is sputter-deposited on a single layer of InSe deposited by CVD, performance parameters of V_OC, J_SC, and FF could be greatly improved.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.400-400
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• 2009

Despite the success of Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS) based PV technology now emerging in several industrial initiatives, concerns about the cost of In and Ga are often expressed. It is believed that the cost of those elements will eventually limit the cost reduction of this technology. One candidate to replace CIGS is $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ (CZTSe), fabricated by co-evaporation technique. Co-evaporation technique will be one of the best methods to control film composition. This type of absorber derives from the $CuInSe^2$ chalcopyrite structure by substituting half of the indium atoms with zinc and other half with tin. Energy bandgap of this material has been reported to range from 0.8eV for selenide to 1.5eV for the sulfide and large coefficient in the order of $10^{14}cm^{-1}$, which means large possibility of commercial production of the most suitable absorber by using the CZTSe film. In this work, Effects of substrate temperature of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ absorber layer on the performance of thin films solar cells were investigated. We reported on some of the absorber properties and device results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.383-386
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• 2002

Polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se$_2$(CIGS) thin-films were grown by co-evaporation on a soda lime glass substrate. In this paper the effects of the Se evaporation temperature on the properties of CuIn0.75Ga0.25Se2 (CIGS) thin films. Structure, surface morphology and optical properties of CIGS thin films deposited at various Se evaporation temperatures have been investigated using a number of analysis techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that CIGS films exhibit a strong <112> preferred orientation. As expected, at higher Se evaporation temperatures the films displayed a lower degree of crystallinity. The <112> peak was also enhanced and other CIGS peaks appeared simultaneously. These results were supported by experimental work using scanning electron microscopy When the Se evaporation temperature was increased, the average grain size also decreased together with a reduction Cu content. The Se evaporation temperature also had a significant inf1uence on the transmission spectra. Increasing the Se evaporation temperature, the cell efficiency was improved dramatically to 11.75% with Voc = 556 mV, Jsc = 32.17 mA/cm2 and FF = 0.66. The Se evaporation temperature is an important parameter in thin film deposition regardless of the deposition technique being used to deposit thin films

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2015

High efficiency $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ solar cells are generally prepared above $500^{\circ}C$. Lowering the process temperature can allow wider selection of substrate material and process window. In this paper, the three-stage co-evaporation process widely used to grow CIGS thin film at high temperature was modified to reduce the maximum substrate temperature. Below $400^{\circ}C$ the CIGS films show poor crystal growth and lower solar cell performance, in spite of external Na doping by NaF. As a new approach, Cu source instead of Cu with Se in the second stage was applied on the $(In,Ga)_2Se_3$ precursor at $400^{\circ}C$ and achieved a better crystal growth. The distribution of Ga in the films produce by new method were investigated and solar cells were fabricated using these films.

• 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.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2015

Ag addition in chalcopyrite materials is known to lead beneficial changes in aspects of structural and electronic properties. In this work, the effects of Ag alloying of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$-based solar cells has been investigated. Wide bandgap $(Ag,Cu)(In_{1-x},Ga_x)Se_2$ (x = 0.75~0.8) films have been deposited using a three-stage co-evaporation with various Ag/(Ag+Cu) ratios. With Ag alloying the $(Ag,Cu)(In_{1-x},Ga_x)Se_2$ (x~0.8) films were found to have greater grainsize and film thickness. Device were also fabricated with the $(Ag,Cu)(In_{1-x},Ga_x)Se_2$ (x~0.8) films and their J-V and quantum efficiency measurements were carried out. The highest-efficiency $(Ag,Cu)(In_{1-x},Ga_x)Se_2$ solar cell with Eg > 1.5 eV had an efficiency of 12.2% with device parameters $V_{OC}=0.810V$, $J_{SC}=21.7mA/cm^2$, and FF = 69.0%.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.259-273
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• 2012

Chalcogenide-based semiconductors, such as $CuInSe_2$, $CuGaSe_2$, Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS), and CdTe have attracted considerable interest as efficient materials in thin film solar cells (TFSCs). Currently, CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have demonstrated the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 11% in module production. However, commercialized CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have some limitations due to the scarcity of In, Ga, and Te and the environmental issues associated with Cd and Se. Recently, kesterite CZTS, which is one of the In- and Ga- free absorber materials, has been attracted considerable attention as a new candidate for use as an absorber material in thin film solar cells. The CZTS-based absorber material has outstanding characteristics such as band gap energy of 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient on the order of $10^4cm^{-1}$, and high theoretical conversion efficiency of 32.2% in thin film solar cells. Despite these promising characteristics, research into CZTS-based thin film solar cells is still incomprehensive and related reports are quite few compared to those for CIGS thin film solar cells, which show high efficiency of over 20%. The recent development of kesterite-based CZTS thin film solar cells is summarized in this work. The new challenges for enhanced performance in CZTS thin films are examined and prospective issues are addressed as well.