Prediction of Photovoltaic Cu(In, Ga)Se_2 p-n Device Performance by Forward Bias Electrochemical Analysis of Only the p-Type Cu(In, Ga)Se_2 Films

摘要

This work is an attempt to rate the quality of Mo/Cu(In, Ga)Se_2 films intended for fabrication of photovoltaic devices. The procedure is based on the simple current-voltage electrochemical analysis of the bilayer in a Eu~(2+/3+)-containing electrolyte solution. Two series of bilayer samples were tested electrochemically, while sister samples were completed into Mo/Cu(In, Ga)Se_2/CdS/i-ZnO/Al:ZnO/Ni-Al solid state devices and their current-voltage characteristics measured in the dark. A correlation was found between the reverse saturation current density of the solid state devices and an analogous parameter extracted from the electrochemical response in forward bias. While Eu~(2+) was found to be metastable in water posing restrictions to the application, reproducible measurements were achieved with a methanol-based solution. The intrinsic simplicity of the proposed methodology makes it particularly suitable for the implementation of a low-cost diagnostic tool.