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Material Interface Optimization in ETA-Photovoltaics


EMSL Project ID
33405

Abstract

This project aims to provide a fundamental scientific foundation to understand the charge transport in novel oxide-based solar cells, and to tailor the transport by doping and/or interface modification of the material systems. These results will provide the basis for improvements in solar cell efficiency, which is a primary goal in the quest to harness solar power to meet the worldâ??s energy demands. The research project focuses on proposed extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cell designs, and consists of a study of the band alignments between n-type ZnO and common inorganic photon absorber, p-type semiconductor, and electrode materials in both thin film form and nanostructured devices.
Deposition of well-defined n-type oxides such as ZnO by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a signature strength of our laboratory, and this knowledge will be extended to deposition of inorganic photon absorber (CdTe) and p-type semiconductor (CuSCN) materials. Band offset measurements by high resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are another area of expertise, and will provide valuable information on the efficacy of charge injection from the absorber to the semiconductor oxide, and from the semiconductor oxide to the electrode. Further, bulk electronic charge transport can be measured utilizing a multi-functional Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS). With these results, the band alignments and thus charge transport can be optimized through either cation or anion doping of the n-type ZnO, and/or interface modification. Once optimized materials parameters are determined, they will be applied to nanostructured ZnO (deposited by PLD) in material stacks similar to solar cell devices.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2009-06-03
End Date
2010-06-06
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Timothy Droubay
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Vaithiyalingam Shutthanandan
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Chongmin Wang
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Tiffany Kaspar
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory