Characterization of the Electronic and Chemical Structure at the Thin Film Solar Cell Interfaces: June 2005 -- June 2009

Heske, C.

doi:10.2172/964209

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The presence of a high concentration of Na on the CIGS surface, which must be originated from the SLG substrate, is in good agreement with literature reports. 13,14 Heske et al reported that the surface sodium exists in the form of compounds such as Na 2 CO 3 . The intensity of the Na 1s core level, however, decreased dramatically after the wet pretreatments, regardless of the treatment type (Figure 3b).…”

Section: ■ Experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Hwang

Larina

Lee

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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We report a novel Cd-free ZnTiO buffer layer deposited by atomic layer deposition for Cu(In,Ga)Se (CIGS) solar cells. Wet pretreatments of the CIGS absorbers with NHOH, HO, and/or aqueous solution of Cd ions were explored to improve the quality of the CIGS/ZnTiO interface, and their effects on the chemical state of the absorber and the final performance of Cd-free CIGS devices were investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that the aqueous solution etched away sodium compounds accumulated on the CIGS surface, which was found to be detrimental for solar cell operation. Wet treatment with NHOH solution led to a reduced photocurrent, which was attributed to the thinning (or removal) of an ordered vacancy compound (OVC) layer on the CIGS surface as evidenced by an increased Cu XPS peak intensity after the NHOH treatment. However, the addition of Cd ions to the NHOH aqueous solution suppressed the etching of the OVC by NHOH, explaining why such a negative effect of NHOH is not present in the conventional chemical bath deposition of CdS. The band alignment at the CIGS/ZnTiO interface was quantified using XPS depth profile measurements. A small cliff-like conduction band offset of -0.11 eV was identified at the interface, which indicates room for further improvement of efficiency of the CIGS/ZnTiO solar cells once the band alignment is altered to a slight spike by inserting a passivation layer with a higher conduction band edge than ZnTiO. Combination of the small cliff conduction band offset at the interface, removal of the Na compound via water, and surface doping by Cd ions allowed the application of ZnTiO buffer to CIGS treated with Cd solutions, exhibiting an efficiency of 80% compared to that of a reference CIGS solar cell treated with the CdS.

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Section: ■ Experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Hwang

Larina

Lee

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…The authors have cited additional references within the Supporting Information. [77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84]…”

Section: Supporting Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting by Conformal Copper‐Oxide on Hematite Nanostructures: Dependence on Surface‐States

Benkó,

Shen,

Németh

et al. 2024

ChemElectroChem

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Understanding the pivotal role of surface co‐catalysts is paramount in the strategic design of forthcoming photoelectrodes. However, the nuanced impacts of co‐catalysts remain elusive, particularly in promoting the water oxidation reaction on hematite, especially in connection to surface states denoted as S1 (higher energy) and S2 (lower energy). For this purpose, we tailored two isomorphous hematite nanoarrays with a thin layer of amorphous copper oxide (CuOx), composed of a blend of Cu(I) and Cu(II) species, via a soft electrodeposition technique. Remarkably, we discovered that in pristine hematite (α‐Fe2O3), the S2 state played a pivotal role in activating the CuOx ad‐layer for water oxidation. At lower external biases (approximately 0.9–1.1 VRHE), CuOx served as charge reservoir in equilibrium with the S2 state. Notably, beyond 1.1 VRHE, where the high‐energy holes of the S1 state became available, CuOx was activated indirectly through the equilibrium with the S2 state, and a pronounced enhancement in photocurrent was observed. Conversely, in the case of Ti‐doped hematite (Ti : α‐Fe2O3) devoid of the S2 state, the presence of CuOx resulted in a decline in charge transfer efficiency. Instead of facilitating water oxidation, CuOx adversely affected the S1 surface sites and reduced the charge carrier density in Ti : α‐Fe2O3.

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Characterization of the Electronic and Chemical Structure at the Thin Film Solar Cell Interfaces: June 2005 -- June 2009

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting by Conformal Copper‐Oxide on Hematite Nanostructures: Dependence on Surface‐States

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Characterization of the Electronic and Chemical Structure at the Thin Film Solar Cell Interfaces: June 2005 -- June 2009

Cited by 2 publications

References 16 publications

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se2/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se2/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Photoelectrocatalytic Water Splitting by Conformal Copper‐Oxide on Hematite Nanostructures: Dependence on Surface‐States

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Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface

Wet Pretreatment-Induced Modification of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/Cd-Free ZnTiO Buffer Interface