Locally grown Cu(In,Ga)Se2 micro islands for concentrator solar cells

• Applicants: Dr. Torsten Boeck; Dr. Jörg Krüger; Professorin Dr. Martina Schmid
• Subject Area: Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials ; Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 254390113

The aim of the project is to grow high quality photovoltaic material in form of micrometer-sized Cu(In,Ga)Se2 islands (µCIGS) using two different laser-assisted deposition methods and to simultaneously understand the physical background of these processes. Using the method of local deposition of metallic micro-dot arrays on previously laser-textured substrates, which was established at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung Berlin (IKZ) and the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung Berlin (BAM), or the laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) of material planned at BAM, metallic islands of Copper, Indium and Gallium will be locally deposited and then sulfurized or selenized to CIGS absorbers in an RTP (rapid thermal processing) step available at the Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) (together with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB)). For the different methodologies of material deposition the influences on the later absorber properties and qualities as well as their potential applicability in photovoltaics will be compared and investigated in detail. For this class of materials a new research field is entered. The project is coordinated by the FU Berlin.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants