Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-15-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

128

Issue

15

First page number:

1

Last page number:

8

Abstract

Dry buffer layer deposition techniques for chalcopyrite (CIGSSe)-based thin-film solar cells lack the surface-cleaning characteristics of the commonly used CdS or Zn(O,S) wet-chemical bath deposition. A UV-induced ozone and/or a low-energy Ar+-ion treatment could provide dry CIGSSe surface cleaning steps. To study the impact of these treatments, the chemical surface structure of a CIGSSe absorber is investigated. For this purpose, a set of surface-sensitive spectroscopic methods, i.e., laboratory-based x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray-excited Auger electron spectroscopy, is combined with synchrotron-based soft x-ray emission spectroscopy. After treatment times as short as 15 s, the UV-induced ozone treatment decreases the amount of carbon adsorbates at the CIGSSe surface significantly, while the oxygen content increases. This is accompanied by the oxidation of all absorber surface elements, i.e., indium, selenium, sulfur, and copper. Short (60 s) low-energy Ar+-ion treatments, in contrast, primarily remove oxygen from the surface. Longer treatment times also lead to a removal of carbon, while extremely long treatment times can also lead to additional (likely metallic) Cu phases at the absorber surface as well.

Keywords

Auger electron spectroscopy; Buffer layers; Cadmium sulfide; Carbon; Chemical cleaning; Coppper compounds; Deposition; Emission spectroscopy; II-VI semiconductors; Ions

Disciplines

Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology | Life Sciences

File Format

pdf

File Size

2.305 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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