In situ monitoring of the growth of Cu(In,Ga)Se<inf>2</inf>thin films

Abstract

Thin films of Cu(In,Ga)Se2were grown by co-evaporation process in a conventional vacuum coating system at the base pressure of 10-5mbar. The controllable of the two-stage growth process was developed. During the growth process, substrate temperature, graphite heater temperature, heating output power and temperature of the CIGS surface were monitored simultaneously. In this setup, we use the change in the thermal behavior of the substrate due to the variations in emissivity of CIGS film during the transition of Cu-rich to Cu-poor in the second stage corresponding to the change of power fed into the substrate heater as the control signal. By observing the variation of control signals, the desired final composition of the film can be obtained. Using our device fabrication, Al/ZnO(Al)/CdS/CIGS/Mo/SLG solar cells with efficiency over 14% (without AR) were achieved. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.