How Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films are Charged: Revisit

C. S. Jiang; M. A. Contreras; I. Repins; H. R. Moutinho; Y. Yan; M. J. Romero; L. M. Mansfield; R. Noufi; M. M. Al-Jassim

doi:10.1063/1.4737406

How Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films are Charged: Revisit

C. S. Jiang, M. A. Contreras, I. Repins, H. R. Moutinho, Y. Yan, M. J. Romero, L. M. Mansfield, R. Noufi, M. M. Al-Jassim

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Abstract

Potential measurements on Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ thin films using scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy have been reported extensively to address grain-boundary (GB) recombination by examining GB charging. However, the results are highly inconsistent. We revisit this issue by measuring high- and low-quality wide-bandgap films and using a complementary method of scanning capacitance microscopy. Our results show consistent positively charged GBs in our high-quality films with minimal surface defects, except for the Σ3[112] GBs, which are charge neutral. We discuss possible artifacts due to surface defects when examining the GB charging and the role of GBs in the device performance.

Original language	American English
Article number	033903
Number of pages	4
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	101
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4737406 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4737406
State	Published - 16 Jul 2012

NREL Publication Number

NREL/JA-5200-53638

Keywords

grain boundaries
Kevlin probe force microscopy
measurements
thin films

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title = "How Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films are Charged: Revisit",

abstract = "Potential measurements on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin films using scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy have been reported extensively to address grain-boundary (GB) recombination by examining GB charging. However, the results are highly inconsistent. We revisit this issue by measuring high- and low-quality wide-bandgap films and using a complementary method of scanning capacitance microscopy. Our results show consistent positively charged GBs in our high-quality films with minimal surface defects, except for the Σ3[112] GBs, which are charge neutral. We discuss possible artifacts due to surface defects when examining the GB charging and the role of GBs in the device performance.",

keywords = "grain boundaries, Kevlin probe force microscopy, measurements, thin films",

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T1 - How Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films are Charged: Revisit

AU - Jiang, C. S.

AU - Contreras, M. A.

AU - Repins, I.

AU - Moutinho, H. R.

AU - Yan, Y.

AU - Romero, M. J.

AU - Mansfield, L. M.

AU - Noufi, R.

AU - Al-Jassim, M. M.

PY - 2012/7/16

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AB - Potential measurements on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin films using scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy have been reported extensively to address grain-boundary (GB) recombination by examining GB charging. However, the results are highly inconsistent. We revisit this issue by measuring high- and low-quality wide-bandgap films and using a complementary method of scanning capacitance microscopy. Our results show consistent positively charged GBs in our high-quality films with minimal surface defects, except for the Σ3[112] GBs, which are charge neutral. We discuss possible artifacts due to surface defects when examining the GB charging and the role of GBs in the device performance.

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How Grain Boundaries in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Films are Charged: Revisit

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Keywords

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