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Preferred Orientation, Grain Sizes and Grain Boundaries of Chalcopyrite-Type Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Daniel Abou-Ras ,
Melanie Nichterwitz ,
Christian A. Kaufmann ,
Susan Schorr  and
Hans-Werner Schock
Daniel Abou-Ras
Affiliation:
daniel.abou-ras@hmi.de, Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Solar Energy - Technology, Glienicker Strasse 100, Berlin, 14109, Germany, +49 30 8062 3231, +49 30 8062 3173
Melanie Nichterwitz
Affiliation:
melanie.nichterwitz@hmi.de, Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Glienicker Strasse 100, Berlin, 14109, Germany
Christian A. Kaufmann
Affiliation:
kaufmann@hmi.de, Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Glienicker Strasse 100, Berlin, 14109, Germany
Susan Schorr
Affiliation:
susan.schorr@hmi.de, Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Glienicker Strasse 100, Berlin, 14109, Germany
Hans-Werner Schock
Affiliation:
hans-werner.schock@hmi.de, Hahn-Meitner-Institut Berlin, Glienicker Strasse 100, Berlin, 14109, Germany
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Abstract

Chalcopyrite-type thin films - CuInS2, CuInSe2, CuGaSe2, and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 - in various completed solar cells were studied in cross-section by means of electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Valuable information on grain sizes, local grain orientations, film textures, and grain boundaries were extracted from the EBSD linescans and maps. The grain-size distributions from the chalcopyrite-type thin films can be represented well by lognormal distribution functions. The EBSD measurements on CuGaSe2 thin film reveal a <110> fiber texture, in good agreement with x-ray diffraction texture analysis performed on the same sample. The EBSD maps from all samples studied exhibit considerable twinning in the chalcopyrite-type thin films. Indeed, the most frequent types of grain boundaries in these thin films are (near) Σ3 60°-<221> and 71°-<110> twins. It is shown that rotational 180°-<221> twins (which are symmetrically equivalent to 71°-<110>) are more frequently found than anion- or cation-terminated 60°-<221> twin boundaries.

Keywords

texturegrain sizegrain boundaries
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1012: Symposium Y – Thin-Film Compound Semiconductor Photovoltaics-2007 , 2007 , 1012-Y09-03
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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