In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells

Molybdenum thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering and their properties analyzed with regards to their potential application as a back contact for CIGS solar cells. It is shown that both types of films tend to transition from tensile to compressive strain when the deposition pres...

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Main Authors: K. Aryal, H. Khatri, R. W. Collins, S. Marsillac
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:International Journal of Photoenergy
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/723714
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author K. Aryal
H. Khatri
R. W. Collins
S. Marsillac
author_facet K. Aryal
H. Khatri
R. W. Collins
S. Marsillac
author_sort K. Aryal
collection DOAJ
description Molybdenum thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering and their properties analyzed with regards to their potential application as a back contact for CIGS solar cells. It is shown that both types of films tend to transition from tensile to compressive strain when the deposition pressure increases, while the conductivity and the grain size decreas. The nucleation of the films characterized by in situ and real time spectroscopic ellipsometry shows that both films follow a Volmer-Weber growth, with a higher surface roughness and lower deposition rate for the rf deposited films. The electronic relaxation time was then extracted as a function of bulk layer thickness for rf and dc films by fitting each dielectric function to a Drude free-electron model combined with a broad Lorentz oscillator. The values were fitted to a conical growth mode and demonstrated that the rf-deposited films have already smaller grains than the dc films when the bulk layer thickness is 30 nm.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1110-662X
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language English
publishDate 2012-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Photoenergy
spelling doaj-art-8f437be92c5f4c6194c4b2b8b7894f162025-02-03T05:48:02ZengWileyInternational Journal of Photoenergy1110-662X1687-529X2012-01-01201210.1155/2012/723714723714In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar CellsK. Aryal0H. Khatri1R. W. Collins2S. Marsillac3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USAWright Center for Photovoltaic Innovation and Commercialization, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USAWright Center for Photovoltaic Innovation and Commercialization, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USAMolybdenum thin films were deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering and their properties analyzed with regards to their potential application as a back contact for CIGS solar cells. It is shown that both types of films tend to transition from tensile to compressive strain when the deposition pressure increases, while the conductivity and the grain size decreas. The nucleation of the films characterized by in situ and real time spectroscopic ellipsometry shows that both films follow a Volmer-Weber growth, with a higher surface roughness and lower deposition rate for the rf deposited films. The electronic relaxation time was then extracted as a function of bulk layer thickness for rf and dc films by fitting each dielectric function to a Drude free-electron model combined with a broad Lorentz oscillator. The values were fitted to a conical growth mode and demonstrated that the rf-deposited films have already smaller grains than the dc films when the bulk layer thickness is 30 nm.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/723714
spellingShingle K. Aryal
H. Khatri
R. W. Collins
S. Marsillac
In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
International Journal of Photoenergy
title In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
title_full In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
title_fullStr In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
title_full_unstemmed In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
title_short In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Molybdenum Thin Films Deposited by rf and dc Magnetron Sputtering as a Back Contact for CIGS Solar Cells
title_sort in situ and ex situ studies of molybdenum thin films deposited by rf and dc magnetron sputtering as a back contact for cigs solar cells
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/723714
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