Toward low-cost large-area CIGS thin film II: Out-of-plane compositional variations of sequentially electrodeposited Cu/In/Cu/Ga/Cu stacked layers selenized in rapid thermal process

Electrodeposition is a promising method to realize large-scale and low-cost CuInxGa1-xSe2 thin film solar cells. In this study, we investigate the out-of-plane compositional and structural variations of electrodeposited Cu/In/Cu/Ga/Cu stacked layers selenized at different temperatures in the rapid thermal process by employing cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, and Auger spectroscopy. A growth model has been suggested to describe the material structure and the chemical composition of the electrodeposited CIGS thin film during the selenization process on the basis of the experimental results. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.