Investigation of solutions of chalcogenides for application in thin film photovoltaics

低成本的大气沉积半导体吸收层应用于光伏太阳能电池，不需要昂贵的仪器设备，继续吸引着研究人员和工程师的兴趣。该项目是基于我们最近发现的能够溶解各种无机盐的溶剂组合，并成功地应用于CIGS光伏器件的制造。然而，溶质的性质仍然不清楚。因此，本项目致力于填补这一空白，并开展与半导体薄膜形成相关的金属硫化物溶液的研究。除了硫化物，纯金属和金属氧化物也将被调查。我们的目标是建立溶液中主要金属络合物物种的准确化学组成，这将使我们能够更好地了解潜在的化学过程，并将促进开发条件，使络合物热分解形成具有给定化学计量比和组成的半导体薄膜。主要的焦点将是但不限于，组成CZTS薄膜的铜、锌和锡的络合物。研究结果将用于制造高效的溶液处理太阳能电池。

Low-cost atmospheric deposition of semiconductor absorbance layers for application in photovoltaic solar cells that do not require expensive instrumentation continue to attract interest of researchers and engineers alike. This project is based on our recent discovery of combinations of solvents capable of dissolving various inorganic salts, which were successfully applied in the fabrication of CIGS PV devices. However, the nature of solutes remains unclear. Therefore this project is dedicated to fill this gap and to carry out investigation of the solutions of metal chalcogenides relevant to the formation of semiconductor thin films. Apart from chalcogenides, pure metals and metal oxides will be also investigated. We aim to establish exact chemical composition of the dominating species of metal complexes in the solutions that will enable better understanding of the underlying chemical processes and will facilitate development of conditions for thermal decomposition of the complexes to form semiconductor films with given stoichiometry and composition. The main focus will be on, but not limited to, the complexes of Cu, Zn and Sn comprising the CZTS thin films. The results will be used in fabrication of efficient solution processed solar cells.