Characterisation of the interplay between microstructure and opto-electronic properties of Cu(In,Ga)S2solar cells by using correlative CL-EBSD measurements

Yucheng Hu; Gunnar Kusch; Damilola Adeleye; Susanne Siebentritt; Rachel Oliver

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ad3bbd

Characterisation of the interplay between microstructure and opto-electronic properties of Cu(In,Ga)S₂solar cells by using correlative CL-EBSD measurements

Nanotechnology. 2024 Apr 30;35(29). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ad3bbd.

Authors

Yucheng Hu¹, Gunnar Kusch¹, Damilola Adeleye², Susanne Siebentritt², Rachel Oliver¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0FS, United Kingdom.
² Laboratory for Photovoltaics, Department of Physics and Materials Science Research Unit, University of Luxembourg, 44 Rue du Brill, 4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.

PMID: 38588661
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ad3bbd

Abstract

Cathodoluminescence and electron backscatter diffraction have been applied to exactly the same grain boundaries (GBs) in a Cu(In,Ga)S₂solar absorber in order to investigate the influence of microstructure on the radiative recombination behaviour at the GBs. Two different types of GB with different microstructure were analysed in detail: random high angle grain boundaries (RHAGBs) and Σ3 GBs. We found that the radiative recombination at all RHAGBs was inhibited to some extent, whereas at Σ3 GBs three different observations were made: unchanged, hindered, or promoted radiative recombination. These distinct behaviours may be linked to atomic-scale grain boundary structural differences. The majority of GBs also exhibited a small spectral shift of about ±10 meV relative to the local grain interior (GI) and a few of them showed spectral shifts of up to ±40 meV. Red and blue shifts were observed with roughly equal frequency.

Keywords: cathodoluminescence; chalcopyrite; electron backscatter diffraction; grain boundary; solar cells.

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