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Influence of the selenium-vapor flow-rate in the photovoltaic properties of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin films prepared via a solution coating process

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Abstract

The influence of selenium-vapor flow-rates in the microstructure and photovoltaic characteristics of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 films prepared using a solution coating process was investigated in this study. An increase in the flow rate of selenium vapor was shown to promote selenization reaction and the grain growth of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 films. As the selenium-vapor flow-rate was increased to 70 sccm, the crystallinity of the obtained films was significantly improved and the densified Cu(In, Ga)Se2 films were formed. Furthermore, the elevated gallium grading profile enhanced the effects of back surface field. Increasing the flow rate of selenium vapor to 70 sccm led to an increase in the Voc, Jsc, and FF values, and therefore enhanced the conversion efficiency of the resulting Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cell to 10.21 %. When the selenium-vapor flow-rate reached 90 sccm, the solar cell performance was deteriorated because the microstructure of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 films became porous. The present investigation reveals that the selenium-vapor flow-rate is crucial to improve the photovoltaic properties of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cells.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the company of Manz AG, Taiwan and the Ministry of Science and Technology for partially supporting this research.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jen-Cheng Sung & Chung-Hsin Lu

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  1. Jen-Cheng Sung
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Correspondence to Chung-Hsin Lu.

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Sung, JC., Lu, CH. Influence of the selenium-vapor flow-rate in the photovoltaic properties of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin films prepared via a solution coating process. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 27, 10497–10503 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-5139-4

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