8 research outputs found
Scanning probe force microscopy of III-V semiconductor structures
No full textIn this dissertation, cross-sectional potential imaging of GaAs-based homoepitaxial, heteroepitaxial and quantum well structures, all grown by atmospheric pressure Metal-organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) is investigated. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), using amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) modes in air and at room temperature, is used for the potential imaging. Studies performed on n-type GaAs homoepitaxial structures have shown two different potential profiles, related to the difference in electron density between the semi-insulating (SI) substrate and the epilayers. It is shown that the contact potential difference (CPD) between the tip and sample is higher on the semi-insulating substrate side than on the n-type epilayer side. This change in CPD across the interface has been explained by means of energy band diagrams indicating the relative Fermi level positions. In addition, it has also been found that the CPD across the interface increases with electron density. This result is in qualitative agreement with theory. In addition, as known from literature, even under ambient conditions FM mode KPFM provides better lateral resolution and more realistic CPD values than AM mode KPFM. Compared to the case of AM mode analysis, where the experimental CPD values were on average of the theoretical values, the CPD values from FM mode analysis are on average of the theoretical ones. Furthermore, by using FM mode, the transition across the interface is sharper and the surface potential flattens/saturates as expected when scanning sufficiently far away from the junction. The non-neutral space charge region of the sample with an electron density of for example, is as measured by FM-KPFM, whereas for AM-KPFM, the width is even more than and the potential profiles do not saturate. For the p-type GaAs homoepitaxial structures, FM mode measurements from a sample with a dopant density of are presented. As in the case of n-type GaAs,a similar potential profile showing two main domains has been obtained. However, unlike the case of type GaAs where the potential measured on the epilayer side is higher than that on the substrate side, the potential on the epilayer side of the junction is lower in this case due to the fact that the Fermi level of p-type GaAs is below that of the substrate
Characterization of the surface properties of polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 using a combination of scanning probe microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
No full textPolycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) exhibit excellent properties for high power conversion efficiency (PCE) thin film solar cells. In recent years, photovoltaic cells made from CIGSe reached a PCE of 23.4\%, surpassing that of multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. Nevertheless, the changes in surface composition and electronic properties of the absorbers after various solution-based surface treatments are still under intensive investigation and are widely discussed in the literature. In this thesis, the front, the rear surface properties as well as the impact of post-deposition treatments (PDT) on CIGSe absorbers with different elemental compositions were analyzed by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, Kelvin probe force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
I show that potassium cyanide (KCN) etching reduces the Cu content at the surface of Cu-rich absorbers substantially. The reduction of the Cu-content is accompanied with the formation of a large number of defects at the surface. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements showed that most of these defects could be passivated with Cd ions. A semiconducting surface and no changes in the density of states were measured across the grain boundaries. In addition to the defect passivation an increase in surface band bending due to the substitution of Cu vacancies by Cd ions, which act as shallow donor defects was observed. As in the case of the front surface, the analyses carried out on the back surface of Cu-rich absorbers showed that a detrimental CuxSe secondary phase was also formed at the interface between the MoSe2 layer and CISe absorber after growth. This CuxSe secondary phase at the back contact was not present in Cu-poor absorbers.
Regarding the alkali metal post-treated absorbers, I show that the occurrence of an enlarged surface bandgap, often reported on CIGSe absorbers after PDT treatment is only present after H2O rinsing. After ammonia (NH4OH) washing, which is always applied before buffer layer deposition, all the high bandgap precipitates disappeared and an increased amount of an ordered vacancy compound was observed.
The thesis thereby gives a comprehensive overview of the CIGSe surfaces after various chemical and post deposition treatments
absorbers
No full textpeer reviewedIn-depth understanding and subsequent optimization of the contact layers in thin
film solar cells are of high importance in order to reduce the amount of nonradiative
recombination and thereby improve device performance. In this work, the buried
MoSe2/CuInSe2 interface of stoichiometric absorbers is investigated with scanning
tunneling spectroscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy combined with compositional
measurements acquired via photo-electron spectroscopy after a mechanical
lift-off process. We find that the local density of states, as measured with scanning
tunneling spectroscopy, is similar to the front-side of ultra-high vacuum annealed
CISe absorbers. The grain boundaries exhibit a weak upward band bending, opposite
to Cu-poor CuGaSe2, and we measure an increased Cu accumulation at the rear CISe
surface compared to the bulk composition and a non-zero concentration of Cu on
the Mo-side. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements corroborate that a
small amount of a CuxSe secondary phase is present at the MoSe2/CuInSe2 interface
in contrast to reports on Cu-poor material. Our findings shed new light into the complex
interface formation of CuInSe2-based thin film solar cells grown under Cu-rich
conditions.SUNSPO
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Passivation of the CuInSe2 surface via cadmium pre-electrolyte treatment
No full textpeer reviewe
Electronic and compositional properties of the rear‐side of stoichiometric CuInSe2 absorbers
No full textNear surface defects: Cause of deficit between internal and external open-circuit voltage in solar cells
No full textpeer reviewedInterface recombination in a complex multilayered thin-film solar structure causes a disparity between the internal open-circuit voltage (VOC,in), measured by photoluminescence, and the external open-circuit voltage (VOC,ex), that is, a VOC deficit. Aspirations to reach higher VOC,ex values require a comprehensive knowledge of the connection between VOC deficit and interface recombination. Here, a near-surface defect model is developed for copper indium di-selenide solar cells grown under Cu-excess conditions. These cell show the typical signatures of interface recombination: a strong disparity between VOC,in and VOC,ex, and extrapolation of the temperature dependent q·VOC,ex to a value below the bandgap energy. Yet, these cells do not suffer from reduced interface bandgap or from Fermi-level pinning. The model presented is based on experimental analysis of admittance and deep-level transient spectroscopy, which show the signature of an acceptor defect. Numerical simulations using the near-surface defects model show the signatures of interface recombination without the need for a reduced interface bandgap or Fermi-level pinning. These findings demonstrate that the VOC,in measurements alone can be inconclusive and might conceal the information on interface recombination pathways, establishing the need for complementary techniques like temperature dependent current–voltage measurements to identify the cause of interface recombination in the devices
The impact of Kelvin probe force microscopy operation modes and environment on grain boundary band bending in perovskite and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells
No full textpeer reviewedAn in-depth understanding of the electronic properties of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline semiconductor absorbers is of high importance since their charge carrier recombination rates may be very high and hence limit the solar cell device performance. Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) is the method of choice to investigate GB band bending on the nanometer scale and thereby helps to develop passivation strategies. Here, it is shown that the workfunction, measured with amplitude modulation (AM)-KPFM, which is by far the most common KPFM measurement mode, is prone to exhibit measurement artifacts at grain boundaries on typical solar cell absorbers such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and CH3NH3PbI3. This is a direct consequence of a change in the cantilever–sample distance that varies on rough samples. Furthermore, we critically discuss the impact of different environments (air versus vacuum) and show that air exposure alters the GB and facet contrast, which leads to erroneous interpretations of the GB physics. Frequency modulation (FM)-KPFM measurements on non-air-exposed CIGSe and perovskite absorbers show that the amount of band bending measured at the GB is negligible and that the electronic landscape of the semiconductor surface is dominated by facet-related contrast due to the polycrystalline nature of the absorbers.GRISC, SUNSPO
