Pulsed laser annealing of spray casted Cu(In, Ga)Se2 nanocrystal thin films for solar cell application. (15th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Badgujar, Amol C.; Dusane, Rajiv O.; Dhage, Sanjay R.
• Is Part Of: Solar energy. Volume 199(2020)
• Page Start: 47
• Page End: 54
• Publication Date: 2020-03-15
• Subjects: Cu(In, Ga)Se2 -- Laser -- Annealing -- Nanosecond -- Solar cells -- Non-vacuum; Solar energy -- Periodicals; Solar engines -- Periodicals; 621.47
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.02.023
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-092X

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Non-vacuum ink based cost effective route for CIGS thin film solar cells. Pulsed laser annealing of CIGS nanocrystal thin films in ambient conditions. Superstrate CIGS thin film solar cell fabrication without thermal post-treatment and KCN etching. Pulsed laser annealing of NaF doped CIGS nanocrystal thin films resulting improved photocurrent density. Abstract: We report ambient processing of 2.5 µm thick layers of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) nanocrystals thin films sprayed on CdS/i:ZnO/Al:ZnO/Soda lime glass substrates with pulsed laser annealing (PLA), using 1064 nm laser at 220 ns pulse width for solar cell fabrication. The choice of the nanosecond pulse width of the near-infrared laser source is critical for the effectiveness of the laser sintering of the CIGS layer irrespective of substrate thermal stability. Solid state sintering by PLA post treatment is evidenced via morphological and structural analysis. The analysis confirms the improvement in the quality of CIGS absorber with respect to its grain size from 5 nm to 20 nm after PLA, which is expected to reduce deep level defects. The short circuit current density of photovoltaic devices prepared using ambient processed laser annealed absorber layer increased significantly from 0.75 mA cm −2 to 8 mA cm −2, resulting in reasonable power conversion efficiency exceeding 1%. The promising results realized by PLA treatment, presented in this work, have great potential to be integrated into scalable roll-to-roll manufacturing of CIGS solar cells.