Crystals of Cu(In1-xGax)3Se 5 were grown by the horizontal and vertical Bridgman methods. A non-contact carbon coating was used to avoid the adhesion between Cu(In1-x Gax)3Se5 ingots and the inner ampoule walls. The composition along and across the as grown ingots with different starting Ga contents was analyzed and the results were interpreted by the established pseudobinary phase diagrams. Results of XRD confirmed that the lattice constants of the Cu(In1-xGax)3Se 5 crystals varied linearly with the Ga content. Results of X-ray Laue back-reflection showed that the Cu(In1-xGax) 3Se5 ingots contained large single crystal regions. Hall effect measurements carried out on the grown samples revealed that the Cu(In 1-xGax)3Se5 crystals were highly resistive with rather low carrier concentrations. The morphology of as-grown or cleaved sample surfaces of the Cu(In1-xGax) 3Se5 ingots were also studied under optical microscope and SEM. / Metallic Na was, for the first time, introduced into Cu(In1-x Gax)3Se5 compounds to observe the doping effects. The introduction of Na increased the electron concentration significantly for CuIn3Se5 samples (x = 0) but did not show a significant effect on Cu(In1-xGax) 3Se5 samples with x > 0. The increase in electron concentration in the CuIn3Se5 samples after the Na diffusion could be explained by defect generation related to Se and In sites. / Crystals of CuInSe2 were also grown by the horizontal Bridgman method for the first time with the addition of metallic sodium. Degradation in crystalline quality and a change of conductivity type from p- to n-type were observed in ingots grown from melts containing more than 0.25 at. % Na. Experiments of Na diffusion were also carried out on CuInSe 2 crystals in a sealed glass ampoule to observe the doping effect. Hot probe measurements indicated that the sodium-treated CuInSe2 samples changed from p-type to n-type. / MIS devices were fabricated on the Na-treated CuIn3Se 5 material for electrical characterization. Dark current density-voltage characteristics and differential capacitance-voltage characteristics of the MIS devices were measured at room temperature. An energy band diagram of the MIS devices has been constructed based on the band lineup data reported in the literature. The current transport mechanism was examined and a dominant multi-step tunneling process was proposed. / Samples of Cu(In1-xGax)3Se 5 with x ≤ 0.5 were found to be strongly photoconductive over the wavelength range from 700 to 1100 nm even at room temperature. It was observed that the sensitivity of photoconductivity was greatly influenced by surface preparation conditions. Chemically etched samples showed the highest photoconductivity, believed to be due to the reduced surface recombination velocity. / Capacitance measurements were carried out to investigate the interface and bulk properties of ZnO/CdS/Cu(In1-xGax)Se 2 solar cells. Results from the steady state C-V measurements showed evidence of interface or surface states, especially for the samples without annealing. DLTS technique was used to determine the deep levels in Cu(In 1-xGax)Se2 crystals with Ga content varying from 0 to 1. Different deep levels for holes with different DLTS spectra were found in the Cu(In1-xGax)Se2 crystals, with different Ga contents. The present results showed that the Ga content has an important effect on the formation of deep levels in Cu(In1-x Gax)Se2 crystals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.38434 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Wang, Haiping, 1969- |
| Contributors | Shih, I. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001872004, proquestno: NQ78795, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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