A Closer Look at Initial CdS Growth on High-efficiency Cu(In, Ga)Se2 Absorbers Using Surface-sensitive Methods

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

Volume

November

First page number:

457

Last page number:

461

Abstract

In this contribution we present further evidence that the post-deposition treatment with alkali elements (PDT) on Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) films can positively influence the initial growth of chemical-bath-deposited CdS. We investigate the surface of CIGS films with and without PDT during initial growth of CdS by various surface-sensitive methods - x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy - in order to gather information about the growth rate and coverage of CdS on the two surface types. We find that the CdS film deposited for 180 seconds on PDT-CIGS is mostly closed, while samples without PDT show very inhomogeneous coverage. Furthermore, for growth on PDT-CIGS, the effective CdS film thickness is determined to be higher by both XPS and SE. Finally, we present a discussion of the information content of the methods employed here. © 2016 IEEE.

Keywords

Buffer layers; coevaporation; Cu(In; Ga)Se2 (CIGS); surface characterization; thin-film devices; thin-film growth

Language

English

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