Scanning 3D XRD for characterization of Cu2O solar cells

One of the appealing solutions for clean energy are low environmental impact p-type Cu2O thin film solar cells, possessing relatively low energy band gap and visible light absorption. The recent breakthrough (8.4%) in Cu2O solar cell devices was possible due to fine-tuned chemical states by reduction of impurities, which are responsible for low carrier diffusion lengths. However, CuO impurities have been demonstrated to minimize interfacial defects, which points at a delicate balance between these phases. We aim to understand this detailed effect of impurity phases and oxygen vacancies by quantifying their respective number, sizes and position with respect to the interfaces of films prepared through a modified reactive sputtering process. A complete quantitative analysis for these impurity amount/impurity position and efficiency correlation lacks to date. One of the best non-destructive techniques to quantify phases and orientations precisely 3DXRD) which is the proposed experiment.