Breakthrough to Non-Vacuum Deposition of Single-Crystal, Ultra-Thin, Homogeneous Nanoparticle Layers: A Better Alternative to Chemical Bath Deposition and Atomic Layer Deposition
Yu-Kuang Liao,
Yung-Tsung Liu,
Dan-Hua Hsieh,
Tien-Lin Shen,
Ming-Yang Hsieh,
An-Jye Tzou,
Shih-Chen Chen,
Yu-Lin Tsai,
Wei-Sheng Lin,
Sheng-Wen Chan,
Yen-Ping Shen,
Shun-Jen Cheng,
Chyong-Hua Chen,
Kaung-Hsiung Wu,
Hao-Ming Chen,
Shou-Yi Kuo,
Martin D. B. Charlton,
Tung-Po Hsieh,
Hao-Chung Kuo
Affiliations
Yu-Kuang Liao
Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, No. 195, Sec. 4, Chung Hsing Road, Chutung, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan
Yung-Tsung Liu
Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, No. 195, Sec. 4, Chung Hsing Road, Chutung, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan
Dan-Hua Hsieh
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Tien-Lin Shen
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Ming-Yang Hsieh
Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang-Gung University, No. 259, Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuang 33302, Taiwan
An-Jye Tzou
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Shih-Chen Chen
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Yu-Lin Tsai
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Wei-Sheng Lin
Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, No. 195, Sec. 4, Chung Hsing Road, Chutung, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan
Sheng-Wen Chan
Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, No. 195, Sec. 4, Chung Hsing Road, Chutung, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan
Yen-Ping Shen
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Shun-Jen Cheng
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Chyong-Hua Chen
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Kaung-Hsiung Wu
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Hao-Ming Chen
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
Shou-Yi Kuo
Department of Electronic Engineering, Chang-Gung University, No. 259, Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuang 33302, Taiwan
Martin D. B. Charlton
School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Tung-Po Hsieh
Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, No. 195, Sec. 4, Chung Hsing Road, Chutung, Hsinchu 31040, Taiwan
Hao-Chung Kuo
Department of Electro-Physics and Department of Photonic & Institute of Electro-Optical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, University Road, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan
Most thin-film techniques require a multiple vacuum process, and cannot produce high-coverage continuous thin films with the thickness of a few nanometers on rough surfaces. We present a new ”paradigm shift” non-vacuum process to deposit high-quality, ultra-thin, single-crystal layers of coalesced sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) with controllable thickness down to a few nanometers, based on thermal decomposition. This provides high-coverage, homogeneous thickness, and large-area deposition over a rough surface, with little material loss or liquid chemical waste, and deposition rates of 10 nm/min. This technique can potentially replace conventional thin-film deposition methods, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical bath deposition (CBD) as used by the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cell industry for decades. We demonstrate 32% improvement of CIGS thin-film solar cell efficiency in comparison to reference devices prepared by conventional CBD deposition method by depositing the ZnS NPs buffer layer using the new process. The new ZnS NPs layer allows reduction of an intrinsic ZnO layer, which can lead to severe shunt leakage in case of a CBD buffer layer. This leads to a 65% relative efficiency increase.
