A study of copper–tungsten oxide materials for photovoltaic application
Authors: Ifeanyi Ark , Isherwood Patrick , Abdul-Lateef Aminat Olawumi 
Published: July 2021

Purpose

Even though copper–tungsten has shown signs of potentials, relatively little is currently known about its appropriateness for photovoltaic application. This paper aims to evaluate the suitability of copper-tungs oxides as photovoltaic absorbers while investigating the consequences of oxygen content variation.

Design/methodology/approach

Using profilometry, Hall measurements, Seebeck test and spectrophotometry, grown samples were defined. Samples of 5 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) and 7 sccm exhibited appropriate characteristics and were further tested using personal computer one dimension (PC1D) computational simulation at the system stage. To grow materials with an average thickness below 0.45 µm, magnetron co-sputtering was used. Three sample sets, varied by oxygen flow rate, were made with flow rates of 5sccm, 7sccm and 9sccm, respectively.

Findings

Some samples proved to be effective absorbers, using a cadmium telluride device as the criterion of output calculation, with one sample chosen as ideal for each type of flow rate. For the chosen samples, an optimum thickness was also obtained, i. It was discovered that thinner cells, optimal for both groups with 0.6 µm, performed better to than other thicknesses.

Research limitations/implications

The material also demonstrated prospects for applications in window layers, but more needs to be known.

Practical implications

Thin film material properties and their operating processes are relatively complex, so it is important to find simple and cost-effective ways to forecast performance. While relatively new, numerical modeling has proven to be very useful in defining the critical properties of thin film devices, thereby helpful for predictions of performance. Solar cell capacitance simulator one dimension, amorphous semiconductor analysis, personal computer one dimension (PC1D), analysis of micro-electronic and photonic structures and automat for simulation for heterostructures (33) are several common models in the thin film industry. Due to its availability and relative ease of use, PC1D was used in this project.

Social implications

As the search for the balance among performance, cost, reliability and availability continue, more absorber components continue to evolve, notably from the chalcogenides. Because of their ability to absorb light, ternary transition metal chalcogenides are useful in the production of hydrogen and in the energy storage sector, as well as in the production of light-emitting diodes and solar photovoltaic (PV).

Originality/value

There are several methods for the manufacture of copper–tungsten alloys, but the process of combinatorial sputtering of magnetrons provides satisfactory results even for the manufacture of various other materials. Cu2WSe4, an excellent alternative to sputtering, is one of the very few copper–tungsten selenide materials tested, synthesized by hot simple injection to have strong crystallinity and lacks impurity. The optical properties of colloidal Cu2WSe4 show that Schottky diode–like behaviors are present in the material, suggesting its potential for use in solar cells. Cu-W alloys could have a lot more to give the PV industry, by all indications. Further exploration of the oxides by this work is thus justified. Transparent conducting oxides, interfacial layers or charge-transporting compounds are commonly used as transition metal oxides. Nevertheless, as absorbers, metal oxides such as BiFeO3 and the traditionally highly studied Cu2O have been tested, with Cu2O showing a conversion efficiency of up to 10% under particular conditions. This displays strong electronic and optical properties, so there might be some possibility of studying other PV absorption metal oxides. The optical properties of colloidal Cu2WSe4 show that Schottky diode–like behaviors are present in the material, suggesting its potential for use in solar cells.