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Influence of Composition on the Performance of Sintered Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Nanocrystal Thin-Film Photovoltaic Devices

  1. Dr. Vahid A. Akhavan1,2,
  2. Taylor B. Harvey1,2,
  3. C. Jackson Stolle1,2,
  4. Dr. David P. Ostrowski2,3,
  5. Micah S. Glaz2,3,
  6. Dr. Brian W. Goodfellow1,2,
  7. Dr. Matthew G. Panthani1,2,
  8. Dariya K. Reid1,
  9. Prof. David A. Vanden Bout2,3,
  10. Prof. Brian A. Korgel1,2,*

Article first published online: 11 FEB 2013

DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201200677

Issue

ChemSusChem

ChemSusChem

Volume 6, Issue 3, pages 481–486, March 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Akhavan, V. A., Harvey, T. B., Stolle, C. J., Ostrowski, D. P., Glaz, M. S., Goodfellow, B. W., Panthani, M. G., Reid, D. K., Vanden Bout, D. A. and Korgel, B. A. (2013), Influence of Composition on the Performance of Sintered Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Nanocrystal Thin-Film Photovoltaic Devices. ChemSusChem, 6: 481–486. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201200677

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (USA), Fax: (+1) 512-471-7060

  2. 2

    Texas Materials Institute and Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (USA)

  3. 3

    Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (USA)

*Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (USA), Fax: (+1) 512-471-7060

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 MAR 2013
  2. Article first published online: 11 FEB 2013
  3. Manuscript Received: 11 SEP 2012

Funded by

  • Robert A. Welch Foundation. Grant Number: F-1464
  • Air Force Research Laboratory. Grant Number: FA-8650–07–2–5061
  • NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Next Generation Photovoltaics. Grant Number: IIP-1134849

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Keywords:

  • copper;
  • gallium;
  • indium;
  • selenium;
  • thin films

Abstract

Thin-film photovoltaic devices (PVs) were prepared by selenization using oleylamine-capped Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) nanocrystals sintered at a high temperature (>500 °C) under Se vapor. The device performance varied significantly with [Ga]/[In+Ga] content in the nanocrystals. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) observed in the devices studied was 5.1 % under air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5 G) illumination, obtained with [Ga]/[In+Ga]=0.32. The variation in PCE with composition is partly a result of bandgap tuning and optimization, but the main influence of nanocrystal composition appeared to be on the quality of the sintered films. The [Cu]/[In+Ga] content was found to be strongly influenced by the [Ga]/[In+Ga] concentration, which appears to be correlated with the morphology of the sintered film. For this reason, only small changes in the [Ga]/[In+Ga] content resulted in significant variations in device efficiency.

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