Investigation of solutions of chalcogenides for application in thin film photovoltaics

应用于光伏太阳能电池的低成本大气沉积半导体吸收层，不需要昂贵的仪器，继续吸引着研究人员和工程师的兴趣。这个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，该组合已成功应用于CIGS PV器件的制造。然而，溶质的性质仍不清楚。因此，本项目致力于填补这一空白，开展与半导体薄膜形成相关的金属硫族化物溶液的研究。除硫族化合物外，还将研究纯金属和金属氧化物。我们的目标是确定溶液中主要金属配合物的确切化学组成，这将有助于更好地理解潜在的化学过程，并将促进配合物热分解形成具有给定化学计量和组成的半导体薄膜的条件的发展。主要的焦点将是，但不限于，铜，锌和锡的配合物组成的CZTS薄膜。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.