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Hexagonal phase epitaxial cadmium sulfide on copper indium gallium selenide for a photovoltaic junction

a photovoltaic junction and epitaxial technology, applied in the field of photovoltaic devices, can solve the problems of inability to integrate the chemical bath deposition process into the roll to roll deposition process, the inability to deposit thin film solar cell materials, and the inability to meet the requirements of the application

Inactive Publication Date: 2019-08-22
BEIJING APOLLO DING RONG SOLAR TECH +2
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent describes a method and structure for manufacturing a photovoltaic device using copper indium gallium selenide and cadmium sulfide layers. The technical effect of this patent is to provide a more efficient and effective photovoltaic structure that can generate more electricity from sunlight.

Problems solved by technology

However, for vacuum deposited CIGS films, a chemical bath deposition process may not be a viable solution.
It is practically impossible to integrate a chemical bath deposition process into a roll to roll deposition process, or a continuous deposition process, that deposits thin film solar cell materials.

Method used

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  • Hexagonal phase epitaxial cadmium sulfide on copper indium gallium selenide for a photovoltaic junction
  • Hexagonal phase epitaxial cadmium sulfide on copper indium gallium selenide for a photovoltaic junction
  • Hexagonal phase epitaxial cadmium sulfide on copper indium gallium selenide for a photovoltaic junction

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[0115]By using advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), the inventors investigated systematically several different PVD-CdS / CIGS heterojunctions made by magnetron sputtering on a moving substrate while both hydrogen and oxygen were introduced into the process chamber, as described above. The major difference of the heterojunctions being a different oxygen content employed in the sputtering gas during the PVD cadmium sulfide deposition process.

[0116]Table I shows the measured performance of four different CdS / CIGS devices with different O2 concentration in the CdS process. The G19 (with highest O2) delivers the lowest efficiency while the G21 (with no O2) exhibits better performance. With the increase of O2 in the CdS, the device performance gradually improved as seen in the G20 and G25 devices before decreasing at the highest levels. This implies that modest incorporation of O in CdS is beneficial for further...

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Abstract

A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic structure includes forming a p-type semiconductor absorber layer containing a copper indium gallium selenide based material over a first electrode, forming a n-type cadmium sulfide layer over the p-type semiconductor absorber layer by sputtering in an ambient including hydrogen gas and oxygen gas, and forming a second electrode over the cadmium sulfide layer.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The instant application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15 / 153,478 filed on May 12, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62 / 162,371 filed on May 15, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]This invention was made with government support under grant number CPS 25853 awarded by the Department of Energy through the DOE / EERE SunShot BRIDGE program. The government has certain rights in the invention.FIELD[0003]The present invention relates generally to the field of photovoltaic devices, and more specifically to thin-film solar cells comprising a photovoltaic heterojunction between cadmium sulfide and copper indium gallium selenide.BACKGROUND[0004]CuIn1-xGaxSe2 (CIGS) based thin film solar cells continue to show promise in the renewable energy market due to a steady gain in their solar ene...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): H01L31/0749H01L21/02H01L31/18H01L31/036H01L31/0296
CPCH01L31/0749H01L21/02557H01L21/02485H01L21/02631H01L31/1828H01L31/036H01L31/0296H01L31/18Y02E10/541Y02E10/543Y02P70/521H01L31/0324Y02E10/547Y02P70/50
Inventor MACKIE, NEILZAPALAC, GEORDIEZHANG, WEIJIECORSON, JOHN F.HE, XIAOQINGROCKETT, ANGUSVARLEY, JOELLORDI, VINCENZO
Owner BEIJING APOLLO DING RONG SOLAR TECH