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Abstract:
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Two stage processes consisting of precursor preparation by thermal
evaporation followed by chalcogenisation in the required atmosphere is
found to be a feasible technique for the PV materials such as n-Beta In2S3,
p-CulnSe2, p-CulnS2 and p-CuIn(Sel_xSx)2. The growth parameters such as
chalcogenisation temperature and duration of chalcogenisation etc have been
optimised in the present study.Single phase Beta-In2S3 thin films can be obtained by sulfurising the indium
films above 300°C for 45 minutes. Low sulfurisation temperatures required
prolonged annealing after the sulfurisation to obtain single phase Beta-1n2S3,
which resulted in high material loss. The maximum band gap of 2.58 eV was
obtained for the nearly stoichiometric Beta-In2S3 film which was sulfurised at
350°C. This wider band gap, n type Beta-In2S3 can be used as an alternative to
toxic CdS as window layer in photovoltaics .The systematic study on the structural optical and electrical properties of
CuInSe2 films by varying the process parameters such as the duration of
selenization and the selenization temperature led to the conclusion that for
the growth of single-phase CuInSe2, the optimum selenization temperature is
350°C and duration is 3 hours. The presence of some binary phases in films
for shorter selenization period and lower selenization temperature may be
due to the incomplete reaction and indium loss. Optical band gap energy of
1.05 eV obtained for the films under the optimum condition.In order to obtain a closer match to the solar spectrum it is desirable to
increase the band gap of the CulnSe2 by a few meV . Further research
works were carried out to produce graded band gap CuIn(Se,S)2 absorber
films by incorporation of sulfur into CuInSe2. It was observed that when the
CulnSe2 prepared by two stage process were post annealed in sulfur atmosphere, the sulfur may be occupying the interstitial positions or forming
a CuInS2 phase along with CuInSe2 phase. The sulfur treatment during the
selenization process OfCu11 ln9 precursors resulted in Culn (Se,S)2 thin films.
A band gap of 1.38 eV was obtained for the CuIn(Se,S)2.The optimised thin films n-beta 1n2S3, p-CulnSe2 and p-Culn(Sel-xSx)2 can be
used for fabrication of polycrystalline solar cells. |