Gas flow sputtering of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 for thin film solar cells

Gas flow sputtering of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) from two opposing Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ targets with slightly Cu-poor stoichiometry was performed, using i) selenium only provided by the target and ii) using additional selenium from an elemental source inside the sputtering system. In both cases the composition of the sputtered CIGS film was similar to the target. A sputter process without additional selenium supply led to poor cell results at about 2 % efficiency. After introducing a post-treatment in selenium atmosphere immediately after the sputter deposition, the cell results were dramatically improved to 12 %. With selenium added during the sputtering process, 13.7 % conversion efficiency was obtained without any post treatment. Gas flow sputtering uses a high gas flow to transport the material from the plasma to the growing film, thereby the atoms will be thermalized, similarly to in an evaporation process. Reactant gases can be supplied close to the substrate, outside the plasma, thereby reducing the risk for sputter damage.