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US 2011/0214725 A1Published application
Photovoltaic device with graded buffer layer
AssigneeFirst Solar, Inc.
InventorMarkus E. Beck
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photovoltaic device can include a graded bandgap buffer layer.
Claims38
A method of manufacturing a photovoltaic device, comprising:
- forming a semiconductor absorber layer adjacent to a substrate, wherein the semiconductor absorber layer comprises copper, indium, gallium, selenium and/or sulfur;
- and
- forming a buffer layer adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer, wherein forming the buffer layer comprises forming a first metal chalcogenide layer having a first bandgap adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer and forming a second metal chalcogenide layer having a second bandgap adjacent to the first metal chalcogenide layer, wherein forming the first metal chalcogenide layer comprises pulsing a first metal precursor and pulsing a first chalcogen precursor and forming the second metal chalcogenide layer comprises pulsing a second metal precursor and pulsing a second chalcogen precursor.
A structure, comprising
- a substrate;
- a conducting layer adjacent to the substrate;
- a semiconductor absorber layer adjacent to the conducting layer, wherein the semiconductor absorber layer comprises copper, indium, gallium, selenium and/or sulfur;
- and
- a buffer layer adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer, wherein the buffer layer comprises a first metal chalcogenide layer adjacent to the semiconductor absorber layer and having a first bandgap and a second metal chalcogenide layer adjacent to the first metal chalcogenide layer and having a second bandgap.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.