ENHANCING SOLAR CELL EFFICIENCY: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON THE OPTO-ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF CUINALSE2 THIN FILMS AS AN ABSORBER LAYER

Abstract

CIAS (CuInAlSe₂) thin films were prepared by 1-step electrodeposition on ITO coated glass substrate by varying deposition potential to obtain low cost, uniform and compact crystallinity at room temperature. The 200ml solution has been prepared and operated at 0.55V to 0.95V deposition potentials. CIAS solution has been prepared at different molarity ratios varying from 0.1M to 1.0M solution and optimum results obtained at 0.5M molar solution. The results obtained from cyclic voltammetry reveals that quaternary compound having different reduction potential can be deposited in potential range 0.5V to 0.95V. XRD technique were used to study the structural, morphological properties of thin films that shows the strong evident of its crystalline nature having tetragonal pure phase with preferred orientation at (400) plane. The result showed that single phase having good stoichiometry can be produced in this potential range.  The optical properties studied by ellipsometry technique revealed that the films are highly absorbing in visible and visible-infrared region by increasing deposition potential. The band gap calculation form absorption spectra were maintained at 1.11 to 1.32 eV which was excellent for good absorbing solar materials. Hall effect application van der pauw method used for electrical properties which show promising results for production of electricity by solar cells. The variation of deposition potential offers very effective change in band gap. Structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties were carried out to establish the suitability of thin films for solar cells fabrication.