Electron Stimulated Desorption of Oxygen from, and Subsequent Type Conversion of, Thin-Film p-CuInSe2

There are seemingly conflicting results from two sets of investigations in the literature concerning the electron stimulated desorption of oxygen incorporated into thin-film p-CuInSe2This has a direct bearing on the model for the role of oxygen in the important postdeposition oxygen treatment of CdS/CuInSe2solar cells, proposed in one of the published reports. By comparing the specific beam parameters of the scanning electron microscope (SEM)/ electron beam induced current (EBIC) versus scanning Auger microprobe (SAM) based studies and calculating charge density for the two cases, the SAM experiments are seen to support, rather than contradict, the results of the SEM/EBIC experiments. The evidence tying the addition and deletion of oxygen to changes in the electrical properties of the CuInSe2are then discussed.