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Identification of Impurity Phases in Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin-film Solar Cell Absorber Material by Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2011

M. Bär ,
B.-A. Schubert ,
R.G. Wilks ,
B. Marsen ,
Y. Zhang ,
M. Blum ,
S. Krause ,
W. Yang ,
T. Unold  and
L. Weinhardt
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M. Bär
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
B.-A. Schubert
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
R.G. Wilks
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
B. Marsen
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
Y. Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89154, U.S.A.
M. Blum
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89154, U.S.A. Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A.
S. Krause
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89154, U.S.A.
W. Yang
Affiliation:
Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A.
T. Unold
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
L. Weinhardt
Affiliation:
Exp. Physik VII, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
C. Heske
Affiliation:
Exp. Physik VII, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany
H.-W. Schock
Affiliation:
Solar Energy Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB), Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
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Abstract

The composition of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers was varied to induce the.formation of secondary impurity phases. For their identification, the samples have been investigated by Cu L3 and S L2,3 soft x-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopy. We find that Cu L3 XAS is especially sensitive to the presence of copper sulfides as well as copper oxides and/or changes in the electron configuration, suggesting a basis for future studies of the surface, defect, and interface characterization of similar samples. Additionally, it is shown that the S L2,3 absorption data can be used as a very sensitive probe of the variations in the prevalence of S-Zn bonds in the near-surface region of the investigated samples.

Keywords

chemical compositionphotovoltaicthin film

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References

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