The effects of antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi) incorporation into CIGS thin films and solar cells have been investigated. 10~50 nm-thick Sb or Bi thin layers were deposited onto Mo-coated sodalime glass (SLG) and SiOx-coated SLG substrates by vacuum evaporation. CIGS thin films were then deposited by three-stage process at substrate temperatures of 400-550 °C. The enhanced grain growth of CIGS thin films was observed, and the open-circuit-voltage (V oc ) and hence the conversion efficiency improved by the Sb (Bi) incorporation only when the SLG substrates were used. However, almost no effect was observed when the alkali barrier SiOx layer was deposited on SLG substrates. These results suggest that the benefit by the Sb (Bi) incorporation does not occur by itself, but is a synergistic effect together with the sodium diffused from SLG.
The effects of bismuth (Bi) incorporation into Cu(In 1Àx ,Ga x )Se 2 (CIGS) thin films and solar cells have been investigated. 10-50-nm-thick Bi thin layers were deposited onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass (SLG) and SiO x -coated SLG substrates by vacuum evaporation. CIGS thin films were then deposited by a three-stage process at substrate temperatures of 450-550 C. The grain growth of CIGS thin films was enhanced, and the opencircuit voltage and hence the conversion efficiency was improved by the Bi incorporation when the SLG substrates were used. However, little effect was observed when the alkali barrier SiO x layer was deposited on SLG substrates. As a result, we found that the Bi incorporation is beneficial for improving the cell performance when sodium exists simultaneously in CIGS layers. #
The effects of antimony (Sb) doping into Cu(In 1Àx ,Ga x )Se 2 (CIGS) thin films and solar cells have been investigated. 10-50-nm-thick Sb thin layers were deposited onto Mo-coated sodalime glass (SLG) and SiO x -coated SLG substrates by vacuum evaporation. CIGS thin films were then deposited by a three-stage process at substrate temperatures of 450-550 C. The grain growth of CIGS thin films was enhanced, and the opencircuit voltage and hence the conversion efficiency improved with the Sb doping when the SLG substrates were used. However, little or no effect was observed when the alkali barrier SiO x layer was deposited on SLG substrates. As a result, we found that Sb doping is beneficial for improving the cell performance when sodium exists simultaneously in CIGS layers. #
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