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Fabrication of Robust Nanoscale Contact between a Silver Nanowire Electrode and CdS Buffer Layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub>2</sub> Thin-film Solar Cells

Silver nanowire transparent electrodes have been employed as window layers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cells. Bare silver nanowire electrodes ...

Hanbat National University

Solar cells based on organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskites have been proven to be one of the most promising candidates for the next generation thin film photovoltaic cells. Mixing Br or Cl into I-based perovskites has been frequently tried to enhance the cell efficiency and stability. One of the advantages of mixed halides is the modulation of band gap by controlling the composition of the incorporated halides. However, the reported band gap transition behavior has not been resolved yet. Here a theoretical model is presented to understand the electronic structure variation of metal mixed-halide perovskites through hybrid density functional theory. Comparative calculations in this work suggest that the band gap correction including spin-orbit interaction is essential to describe the band gap changes of mixed halides. In our model, both the lattice variation and the orbital interactions between metal and halides play key roles to determine band gap changes and band alignments of mixed halides. It is also presented that the band gap of mixed halide thin films can be significantly affected by the distribution of halide composition.

Systematic analysis of the unique band gap modulation of mixed halide perovskites.

We report the growth of vertical <111>-oriented InAs x P1-x (0.11 ≤ x ≤ 0.27) nanowires via metal-organic chemical vapor deposition in the presence of indium droplets as catalysts on InP(111)B substrates at 375 °C. Trimethylindium, tertiarybutylphosphine, and tertiarybutylarsine are used as the precursors, corresponding to P/In and As/In molar ratios of 29 and 0.01, respectively. The as-grown nanowire growth morphologies, crystallinity, composition, and optical characteristics are determined using a combination of scanning and transmission electron microscopies, electron diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron, energy dispersive X-ray, and Raman spectroscopies. We find that the InAs x P1-x nanowires are tapered with narrow tops, wider bases, and In-rich In-As alloy tips, characteristic of vapor-liquid-solid process. The wires exhibit a mixture of zinc blende and wurtzite crystal structures and a high density of structural defects such as stacking faults and twins. Our results suggest that the incorporation of As into InP wires decreases with increasing substrate temperature. The Raman spectra obtained from the In(As)P nanowires reveal a red-shift and lower intensity of longitudinal optical mode relative to both InP nanowires and InP(111)B bulk, due to the incorporation of As into the InP matrix. 

Self-Catalyzed Growth and Characterization of In(As)P Nanowires on InP(111)B Using Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition.

The single-bath electrochemical deposition of CuInSe2 often leads to short-circuit behavior of the resulting solar cells due to the high shunt conductance. In this study, in an attempt to resolve this problem, the influence of the Se precursor concentration (CSe) on electrodeposited CuInSe2 films and solar cell devices is examined in the CSe range of 4.8 to 12.0 mM in selenite-based aqueous solutions containing Cu and In chlorides along with sulfamic acid (H3NSO3) and potassium hydrogen phthalate (C8H5KO4) additives. As CSe increases, the CuInSe2 layers become porous, and the grain growth of the CuInSe2 phase is restricted, while the parasitic shunting problem was markedly alleviated, as unambiguously demonstrated by measurements of the local current distribution. Due to these ambivalent influences, an optimal value of CSe that achieves the best quality of the films for high-efficiency solar cells is identified. Thus, the device prepared with 5.2 mM Se exhibits a power-conversion efficiency exceeding 10% with greatly improved device parameters, such as the shunt conductance and the reverse saturation current. The rationale of the present approach along with the physicochemical origin of its conspicuous impact on the resulting devices is discussed in conjunction with the electro-crystallization mechanism of the CuInSe2 compound. 

Suppressed Formation of Conductive Phases in One-Pot Electrodeposited CuInSe2 by Tuning Se Concentration in Aqueous Electrolyte.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have unique electronic properties in which deep level defects are rarely formed. This unique defect characteristic is the source of the long carrier diffusion length. This theoretical study shows what causes this characteristic formation of shallow level defects in lead tri-halide perovskites. Comparative studies between iodides and other halides showed that deep level defect states were generated for Cl based perovskites. Longer Pb-halide bond lengths and narrower band gaps are beneficial for preventing deep level defect states. Additionally, our study shows that the formation of shallow level defects does not change even when the lattice structures of the perovskites do not reach their equilibrium structures.

Understanding of the formation of shallow level defects from the intrinsic defects of lead tri-halide perovskites.

We report the effect of morphology and substrate of self-catalyzed indium phosphide (InP) nanostructures on phonon vibration modes. Using liquid indium as a catalyst, we grew self-catalyzed InP nanocones and nanopillars on single crystal substrates of InP(111)B, Si(111), and Si(100) via metal-organic chemical vapor epitaxy. Due to crystal symmetry breaking in one-dimensional nanostructure, longitudinal-optical (LO) and transverse-optical (TO) phonon modes are clearly resolved with the strong anisotropic behavior. Broadening and downshift of LO phonon modes are found to be sensitive to the morphology (i.e., aspect ratio and surface-to-volume ratio) and crystal structure (i.e., Wurtzite and Zinc Blende) of the as-grown nanostructures. This work demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy provides statistical insights on the quality of as-grown nanostructures (i.e., growth orientation, crystal structures, and the presence of structural defects) without destroying samples.

Choong-Heui Chung

Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Hanbat National University

Fabrication of Robust Nanoscale Contact between a Silver Nanowire Electrode and CdS Buffer Layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ Thin-film Solar Cells

Choong-Heui Chung

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Materials Science and Engineering,Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Hanbat National University

Fabrication of Robust Nanoscale Contact between a Silver Nanowire Electrode and CdS Buffer Layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-film Solar Cells

Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Fabrication of Robust Nanoscale Contact between a Silver Nanowire Electrode and CdS Buffer Layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ Thin-film Solar Cells