scholarly journals The Effect of Sputtering Parameters on the Film Properties of Molybdenum Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-cheng Huang ◽  
Chia-ho Huang ◽  
Mao-yong Lin ◽  
Chia-ying Chou ◽  
Chun-yao Hsu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Main Peak ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Adhesive Tape ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
Working Pressure ◽  
Glass Substrates

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as a back contact for CIGS-based solar cells. This paper determines the optimal settings for the sputtering parameters for an Mo thin film prepared on soda lime glass substrates, using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering, with a metal Mo target, in an argon gas environment. A Taguchi method with an L9orthogonal array, the signal-to-noise ratio, and an analysis of variances is used to determine the performance characteristics of the coating operation. The main sputtering parameters, such as working pressure (mTorr), dc power (W), and substrate temperature (°C), are optimized with respect to the structural features, surface morphology, and electrical properties of the Mo films. An adhesive tape test is performed on each film to determine the adhesion strength of the films. The experimental results show that the working pressure has the dominant effect on electrical resistivity and reflectance. The intensity of the main peak (110) for the Mo film increases and the full width at half maximum decreases gradually as the sputtering power is increased. Additionally, the application of an Mo bilayer demonstrates good adherence and low resistivity.

scholarly journals Adhesion Improvement and Characterization of Magnetron Sputter Deposited Bilayer Molybdenum Thin Films for Rear Contact Application in CIGS Solar Cells

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weimin Li ◽  
Xia Yan ◽  
Armin G. Aberle ◽  
Selvaraj Venkataraj
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Magnetron Sputtering ◽  
Surface Oxidation ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Individual Layer ◽  
Glass Substrates ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP) deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP) deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [110] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and mini-modules fabricated on thin soda-lime glass substrates

2013 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigenori Furue ◽  
Shogo Ishizuka ◽  
Akimasa Yamada ◽  
Masayuki Iioka ◽  
Hirofumi Higuchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Glass Substrates

scholarly journals Preparation and Characterization of Molybdenum Thin Films by Direct-Current Magnetron Sputtering

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Fan Chen ◽  
Shea-Jue Wang ◽  
Win-Der Lee ◽  
Ming-Hong Chen ◽  
Chao-Nan Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Hall Effect Measurement ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Working Pressure ◽  
Low Resistivity ◽  
Glass Substrates ◽  
Deposition Conditions

The back contact electrode with molybdenum (Mo) thin film is crucial to the performance of Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cells. In this research, Mo thin films were fabricated by direct current sputtering to attain low-resistivity molybdenum films on soda-lime glass substrates with good adhesion. The films were sputtered onto substrates in 500 nm thickness and nominally held at room temperature with deposition conditions of power and working pressure. Low resistivity (17-25 μΩ∙cm) of bi-layer molybdenum thin films were achieved with combination of top layer films deposited at 300 W with different working pressure, and bottom fixing layer film deposited at 300 W with 2.5 mTorr which adhered well on glass. Films were characterized the electrical properties, structure, residual stress, morphology by using the Hall-effect Measurement, X-ray Diffraction, and Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, respectively, to optimize the deposition conditions.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Bilayer Molybdenum Films Deposited Using RF Sputtering for Back Contact of Thin Film Solar Cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sea-Fue Wang ◽  
Hsiao-Ching Yang ◽  
Chien-Fong Liu ◽  
Huy-Yun Y. Bor
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Rf Sputtering ◽  
Bottom Layer ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Deposition Condition ◽  
Metal Contacts ◽  
Working Pressure ◽  
Soda Lime Glass Substrate ◽  
Sputtering Power

Mo films prepared under a single deposition condition seldom simultaneously obtain a low resistivity and a good adhesion necessary for use in solar cells. In order to surmount the obstacle, bilayer Mo films using DC sputtering at a higher working pressure and a lower working pressure have been attempted as reported in the literature. In this study, RF sputtering with different powers in conjunction with different working pressures was explored to prepare bilayer Mo film. The first bottom layer was grown at a RF sputtering power of 30 W and a working pressure of 12 mTorr, and the second top layer was deposited at 100 W and 4.5 mTorr. The films revealed a columnar growth with a preferred orientation along the (110) plane. The bilayer Mo films reported an electrical resistivity of 6.35 × 10−5 Ω-cm and passed the Scotch tape test for adhesion to the soda-lime glass substrate, thereby qualifying the bilayer Mo films for use as back metal contacts for CIGS substrates.

scholarly journals Optimization of Mo/Cr bilayer back contacts for thin-film solar cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 2700-2707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima Khoshsirat ◽  
Fawad Ali ◽  
Vincent Tiing Tiong ◽  
Mojtaba Amjadipour ◽  
Hongxia Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Single Layer ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Tin Sulfide ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
Bilayer Films

Molybdenum (Mo) is the most commonly used material as back contact in thin-film solar cells. Adhesion of Mo film to soda–lime glass (SLG) substrate is crucial to the performance of solar cells. In this study, an optimized bilayer structure made of a thin layer of Mo on an ultra-thin chromium (Cr) adhesion layer is used as the back contact for a copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) thin-film solar cell on a SLG substrate. DC magnetron sputtering is used for deposition of Mo and Cr films. The conductivity of Mo/Cr bilayer films, their microstructure and surface morphology are studied at different deposition powers and working pressures. Good adhesion to the SLG substrate has been achieved by means of an ultra-thin Cr layer under the Mo layer. By optimizing the deposition conditions we achieved low surface roughness, high optical reflectance and low sheet resistivity while we could decrease the back contact thickness to 600 nm. That is two thirds to half of the thickness that is currently being used for bilayer and single layer back contact for thin-film solar cells. We demonstrate the excellent properties of Mo/Cr bilayer as back contact of a CZTS solar cell.

scholarly journals n-i-p Nanocrystalline Hydrogenated Silicon Solar Cells with RF-Magnetron Sputtered Absorbers

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1699
Author(s):  
Dipendra Adhikari ◽  
Maxwell M. Junda ◽  
Corey R. Grice ◽  
Sylvain X. Marsillac ◽  
Robert W. Collins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Device Fabrication ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Hydrogenated Silicon ◽  
Glass Substrates ◽  
Collection Probability

Nanocrystalline hydrogenated silicon (nc-Si:H) substrate configuration n-i-p solar cells have been fabricated on soda lime glass substrates with active absorber layers prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The cells with nanocrystalline PECVD absorbers and an untextured back reflector serve as a baseline for comparison and have power conversion efficiency near 6%. By comparison, cells with sputtered absorbers achieved efficiencies of about 1%. Simulations of external quantum efficiency (EQE) are compared to experimental EQE to determine a carrier collection probability gradient with depth for the device with the sputtered i-layer absorber. This incomplete collection of carriers generated in the absorber is most pronounced in material near the n/i interface and is attributed to breaking vacuum between deposition of layers for the sputtered absorbers, possible low electronic quality of the nc-Si:H sputtered absorber, and damage at the n/i interface by over-deposition of the sputtered i-layer during device fabrication.

Investigation of sputtered Mo layers on soda-lime glass substrates for CIGS solar cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 115020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Hua Huang ◽  
Hung-Lung Cheng ◽  
Wei-En Chang ◽  
Ming Yi Huang ◽  
Yi-Jiunn Chien
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Soda Lime ◽  
Soda Lime Glass ◽  
Glass Substrates ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells
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