Local built-in potential on grain boundary of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films

We report on a direct measurement of two-dimensional potential distribution on the surface of photovoltaic Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films using a nanoscale electrical characterization of scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. The potential measurement reveals a higher surface potential or a smaller work functio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2004-05, Vol.84 (18), p.3477-3479
Main Authors: Jiang, C.-S., Noufi, R., AbuShama, J. A., Ramanathan, K., Moutinho, H. R., Pankow, J., Al-Jassim, M. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
DEVICE
DIRECT MEASUREMENT
DISTRIBUTION
EFFICIENCY
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN BOUNDARIES (GBS)
MATERIALS SCIENCE
MICROSCOPY
PHOTOCONVERSION
PROBES
PV
SCANNING KELVIN PROBE MICROSCOPY (SKPM)
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar Energy - Photovoltaics
SURFACE POTENTIAL
THIN FILMS
THREE-STAGE
TUNING
WORK FUNCTIONS
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report on a direct measurement of two-dimensional potential distribution on the surface of photovoltaic Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films using a nanoscale electrical characterization of scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. The potential measurement reveals a higher surface potential or a smaller work function on grain boundaries of the film than on the grain surfaces. This demonstrates the existence of a local built-in potential on grain boundaries, and the grain boundary is positively charged. The local built-in potential on the grain boundary is expected to increase the minority-carrier collection area from one to three dimensional. In addition, a work function decrease induced by Na on the film surface was observed.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.1737796