• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.115-119
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• 2014

$Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (CIGS) thin films have been used as a light absorbing layer in high-efficiency solar cells. In order to improve the quality of the CIGS thin film, often selenization step is applied. Especially when the thin film was formed by non-vacuum powder process, selenization can help to induce grain growth of powder and densification of the thin film. However, selenization is not trivial. It requires either the use of toxic gas, $H_2Se$, or expensive equipment which raises the overall manufacturing cost. Herein, we would like to deliver a new, simple method for selenization. In this method, instead of using a costly two-zone furnace, use of a regular tube furnace is required and selenium is supplied by a mixture of selenium and ceramic powder such as alumina. By adjusting the ratio of selenium vs. alumina powder, selenium vaporization can be carefully controlled. Under the optimized condition, steady supply of selenium vapor was possible which was evidently shown by large grain growth of CIGS within a thin powder layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.63-63
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• 1999

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2012

Thin film solar cells are growing up in the market due to their high efficiency and low cost. Especially CdTe and $CuInGaSe_2$ based solar cells are leading the other cells, but due to the limited percentage of the elements present in our earth's crust like Tellurium, Indium and Gallium, the price of the solar cells will increase rapidly. Copper Zinc Tin Sulfide (CZTS) and Copper Zinc Tin Selenide (CZTSe) semiconductor (having a kesterite crystal structure) are getting attention for its solar cell application as the absorber layer. CZTS and CZTSe have almost the same crystal structure with more environmentally friendly elements. Various authors have reported growth and characterization of CZTSe films and solar cells with efficiencies about 3.2% to 8.9%. In this study, a novel method to prepare CZTSe has been proposed based on selenization of stacked Copper Selenide ($Cu_2Se$), Tin Selenide ($SnSe_2$) and Zinc Selenide (Zinc Selenide) in six possible stacking combinations. Depositions were carried out through RF magnetron sputtering. Selenization of all the samples was performed in Close Space Sublimation (CSS) in vacuum at different temperatures for three minutes. Characterization of each sample has been performed in Field Emission SEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, EDS and Auger. In this study, the properties and results of $Cu_2ZnSnSe_4$ thin films grown by selenization will be presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.226-229
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• 2004

A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for $CuAlSe_2$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal electric furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, $CuAlSe_2$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the hot wall epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperatures were $680^{\circ}C$ and $410^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of $CuAlSe_2$ single crystal thin films measured with Hall effect by van der Pauw method are $9.24{\times}10^{16}\;cm^{-3}$ and $295\;cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ at 293 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the energy band gap of the $CuAlSe_2$ obtained from the absorption spectra was well described by the Varshni's relation, $E_g(T)\;=\;2.8382\;eV\;-\;(8.68{\times}10^{-4}\;eV/K)T^2/(T+155K)$. The crystal field and the spin-orbit splitting energies for the valence band of the $CuAlSe_2$ have been estimated to be 0.2026 eV and 0.2165 eV at 10K, respectively, by means of the photocurrent spectra and the Hopfield quasicubic model. These results indicate that the splitting of the ${\Delta}so$ definitely exists in the ${\Gamma}_5$ states of the valence band of the $CuAlSe_2$. The three photocurrent peaks observed at 10K are ascribed to the $A_1-$, $B_1-$, and $C_1$-exciton peaks for n = 1.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.83-83
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• 2003

The stochiometric mix of evaporating materials for the CuInSe$_2$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, CuInSe$_2$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperature were 62$0^{\circ}C$ and 41$0^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of CuInSe$_2$ single crystal thin films measured from Hall effect by van der Pauw method are 9.62$\times$10$^{16}$ cm$^{-3}$ , 296 $\textrm{cm}^2$/V.s at 293 K, respectively From the photocurrent spectrum by illumination of perpendicular light on the c-axis of the CuInSe$_2$ single crystal thin film, we have found that the values of spin orbit splitting ΔSo and the crystal field splitting ΔCr were 6.1 meV and 175.2 meV at 10 K, respectively. From the photoluminescence measurement on CuInSe$_2$ single crystal thin film, we observed free excition (Ex) existing only high quality crystal and neutral bound exiciton (D$^{\circ}$,X) having very strong peak intensity. Then, the full-width-at -half-maximum(FWHM) and binding energy of neutral donor bound excition were 7 meV and 5.9 meV, respectivity. By Haynes rule, an activation energy of impurity was 59 meV.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.05a
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• pp.37-51
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• 2000

This paper presented the trend of CIS solar cell development and the current status of CIS cell research conducted by the collaboration of KAIST and KIER.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.167-170
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• 2001

The stochiometric mix of evaporating materials for the $CdGa_{2}Se_{4}$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, $CdGa_{2}Se_{4}$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperature were $630^{\circ}C$ and $420^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of $CdGa_{2}Se_{4}$ single crystal thin films measured from Hall effect by van der Pauw method are $8.27{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3},345cm^{2}/V{\cdot}s$ at 293 K, respectively. From the photocurrent spectrum by illumination of perpendicular light on the c-axis of the $CuInSe_{2}$ single crystal thin film, we have found that the values of spin orbit splitting $\Delta$ So and the crystal field splitting $\Delta$Cr were 106.5 meV and 418.9 meV at 10 K, respectively. From the photoluminescence measurement on $CdGa_{2}Se_{4}$ single crystal thin film, we observed free excition (Ex) existing only high Quality crystal and neutral bound exiciton $(D^{0},X)$ having very strong peak intensity. Then, the full-width-at-half-maximum(FWHM) and binding energy of neutral donor bound excition were 8 meV and 13.7 meV, respectivity. By Haynes rule, an activation energy of impurity was 137 meV.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.167-170
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• 2001

The stochiometric mix of evaporating materials for the CdGa$_2$Se$_4$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, CdGa$_2$Se$_4$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperature were 630$^{\circ}C$ and 420$^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of CdGa$_2$Se$_4$ single crystal thin films measured from Hall erect by van der Pauw method are 8.27x10$\^$17/ cm$\^$-3/, 345 $\textrm{cm}^2$/V$.$s at 293 K, respectively. From the Photocurrent spectrum by illumination of perpendicular light on the c-axis of the CuInSe$_2$ single crystal thin film, we have found that the values of spin orbit splitting ΔSo and the crystal field splitting ΔCr were 106.5 meV and 418.9 meV at 10 K, respectively. From the photoluminescence measurement on CdGa$_2$Se$_4$ single crystal thin film, we observed free excition (E$\_$X/) existing only high quality crystal and neutral bound exiciton (D$\^$0/,X) having very strong peak intensity. Then, the full-width-at-half-maximum(FWHM) and binding energy of neutral donor bound excision were 8 meV and 13.7 meV, respectivity. By Haynes rule, an activation energy of impurity was 137 meV,

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.85-90
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• 2015

Two-step processes for preparing $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ absorber layers consist of precursor layer formation and subsequent annealing in a Se-containing atmosphere. Among the various deposition methods for precursor layer, the nonvacuum (wet) processes have been spotlighted as alternatives to vacuum-based methods due to their potential to realize low-cost, scalable PV devices. However, due to its porous nature, the precursor layer deposited on Mo substrate by nonvacuum methods often suffers from thick $MoSe_2$ formation during selenization under a high Se vapor pressure. On the contrary, selenization under a low Se pressure to avoid $MoSe_2$ formation typically leads to low crystal quality of absorber films. Although TiN has been reported as a diffusion barrier against Se, the additional sputtering to deposit TiN layer may induce the complexity of fabrication process and nullify the advantages of nonvacuum deposition of absorber film. In this work, Mo oxide layers via thermal oxidation of Mo substrate have been explored as an alternative diffusion barrier. The morphology and phase evolution was examined as a function of oxidation temperature. The resulting Mo/Mo oxides double layers were employed as a back contact electrode for $CuInSe_2$ solar cells and were found to effectively suppress the formation of $MoSe_2$ layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.296-296
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• 2011

동시 증발법(co-evaporation)에 의해 성장된 $CuIn_xGa_{1-x}Se_2$ (CIGS) 박막의 광학적 특성을 photoreflectance (PR) 분광법으로 연구하였다. 조성비 x는 0~1까지 변화시켰다. 시료의 두께는 약 2.2 ${\mu}m$였다. PR 측정은 변조빔 세기, 변조빔 주파수 및 온도의 함수로 조사하였다. PR 스펙트럼으로부터 조성비 x가 증가함에따라 시료의 띠간격 에너지가 증가하는 것을 관측하였다. 상온 PR 스펙트럼으로부터 시료내에 형성된 내부 전기장을 구하였다. 그리고 변조빔 세기의 증가에 따른 PR 신호의 세기는 점차 증가하는 반면에, 변조 주파수를 증가시킴에 따라 신호의 세기가 점차 감소함을 보였다. PR 신호의 온도 의존성 실험으로부터 띠간격 에너지의 변화 및 Varshni 계수 등을 구하여 CIGS 시료의 특성을 조사하였다.