Sputter Ion Mass Spectrometer Analysis of Copper Sulfide/Cadmium Sulfide Solar Cell Samples.

摘要

The capabilities of the Applied Physics Laboratory include solar simulators and control cell standards for proper testing and evaluation of solar cell performance, controlled temperature and atmosphere furnaces to study the effects of ambient gases (surface effects) and impurity diffusion (junction effects), and a sputter ion source mass spectrometer (SIMS) that can provide both ionic and polyatomic species versus depth profiles for the Cu2S/CdS samples. Analysis of surface species before and after ambient exposure may lead to the development of effective surface coatings. Profile data through the junction region may aid in the study of impurity diffusion, which is believed to be a chief source of temperature degradation in the Cu2S/CdS system. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the feasibility of the SIMS technique. This report summarizes its results.