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.低环境影响的p型氧化亚铜（Cu₂O）薄膜太阳能电池是清洁能源领域极具吸引力的解决方案之一，该类电池具备较窄的能带隙与优异的可见光吸收性能。近期氧化亚铜太阳能电池器件实现了8.4%的光电转换效率突破，这得益于通过还原杂质实现了化学状态的精准调控——此类杂质正是导致载流子扩散长度偏低的核心诱因。然而，研究表明氧化铜（CuO）杂质可有效抑制界面缺陷的产生，这说明两相之间存在微妙的动态平衡。本研究旨在通过定量表征改性反应溅射法制备的薄膜中杂质相与氧空位的数量、尺寸及界面分布位置，阐明二者对电池性能的具体作用机制。截至目前，学界尚未开展针对杂质含量、杂质分布位置与电池效率之间关联的完整定量分析工作。三维X射线衍射（3DXRD）是能够精准定量表征物相与取向的最优无损表征技术之一，本研究拟采用该技术开展相关实验。