Improvement of Quantitative STEM/EDXS Analyses for Chemical Analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells with Zn(O,S) Buffer Layers
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) in a transmission electron microscope is frequently used for the chemical analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells with high spatial resolution. However, the quantification of EDXS data is complicated due to quantification errors and artifacts. This work shows how quantitative EDXS analyses of CIGS-based solar cells with Zn(O,S) buffer and ZnO-based window layers can be significantly improved. For this purpose, CIGS-based solar cells and a reference sample with a stack of Zn(O,S) layers with different [O]/[S] ratios were analyzed. For Zn(O,S), the correction of sample-thickness-dependent absorption of low-energy O–Kα X-rays significantly improves the results of quantitative EDXS. Absorption of characteristic X-rays in CIGS is less relevant. However, for small transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample thicknesses, artifacts can occur due to material changes by focused-ion-beam (FIB)-based preparation of TEM samples, electron-beam-induced damage, and oxidation of the sample surface. We also show that a Pt-protection layer, deposited on the sample surface before FIB preparation of TEM lamellae, can induce artifacts that can be avoided by first depositing a carbon layer.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films · Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties · Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Laboratorium für Elektronenmikroskopie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) , Engesserstr. 7, 76131 Karlsruhe , Germany
Bruker Nano GmbH, Am Studio 2D , 12489 Berlin , Germany
Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) , Meitnerstr. 1, 70563 Stuttgart , Germany
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