The influence of potassium post-deposition treatments on grain boundaries and surfaces of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers [* Cross-Reference *]

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Evandro M. Lanzoni; Omar Ramírez; Muhammad Farooq; Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin; Jean‐Nicolas Audinot; Tom Wirtz; Susanne Siebentritt; Alex Redinger, 2026, "The influence of potassium post-deposition treatments on grain boundaries and surfaces of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers [* Cross-Reference *]", https://lore.list.lu/citation?persistentId=perma:LIST.HPUVWD, LIST Open Repository, V1

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Description	Abstract Alkali metal post-deposition treatments (PDTs) have played a pivotal role in the development of high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin film solar cells. The PDTs impact the near-surface region of the absorbers, the grain boundaries, and the bulk. Since Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells are polycrystalline, the investigations turn out to be very challenging as each grain/grain boundary is affected slightly differently by the PDTs. Therefore, we synthesized Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 absorbers on microcrystalline GaAs substrates to form millimeter-sized epitaxial domains with well-defined grain boundaries. This model system allows us to study the same surface orientation and grain boundary before and after PDTs. We find strong preferential (112) facets and Cu depletion on the surface, with the grain boundaries exhibiting very similar Cu-depleted compositions. After K deposition and annealing, Cu is pushed into the absorber, leaving a K-rich compound at the near-surface. Furthermore, we find different diffusion rates of K through the grain interior and via the grain boundaries. The exchange of Cu with K at the surface also occurs at the grain boundaries as measured with atom probe tomography. High-resolution KPFM measurements performed on the same grain boundary before and after PDT treatment show almost negligible grain boundary band bending. Cu-depleted K-rich area at the surface and grain boundaries exhibit very similar compositions, which gives rise to small band bending values. Our results give an unprecedented view of the mechanisms that occur at the surface, grain boundaries, and the bulk of CIGSe solar cells, paving the way to further develop the materials and improve the power conversion efficiency. (2026-06-03) *This entry has been automatically imported via OpenAlex by LIST harvest scripts. Please refer to https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-55190-9 for the original and latest version of the publication* (2026-07-01)
Subject	Astronomy and Astrophysics; Engineering; Physics
Keyword	Grain boundary, Grain boundary diffusion coefficient, Band bending, Microcrystalline, Effective diffusion coefficient, Grain growth, Grain boundary strengthening, Diffusion, Metal
License/Data Use Agreement	CC BY 4.0


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Persistent Identifier	perma:LIST.HPUVWD
Publication Date	2026-07-06
Title	The influence of potassium post-deposition treatments on grain boundaries and surfaces of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorbers [* Cross-Reference *]
Other Identifier	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-55190-9 OpenAlex ID: https://openalex.org/W7163336115
Author	Evandro M. Lanzoni (University of Luxembourg) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9784-0935 Omar Ramírez (University of Luxembourg) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5946-0138 Muhammad Farooq (University of Luxembourg) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6624-0138 Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin (University of Freiburg) Jean‐Nicolas Audinot (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4966-7653 Tom Wirtz (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7912-5193 Susanne Siebentritt (University of Luxembourg) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6522-1427 Alex Redinger (University of Luxembourg) - ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2958-3102
Point of Contact	Use email button above to contact. LIST QDKM (LIST)
Description	Abstract Alkali metal post-deposition treatments (PDTs) have played a pivotal role in the development of high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin film solar cells. The PDTs impact the near-surface region of the absorbers, the grain boundaries, and the bulk. Since Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells are polycrystalline, the investigations turn out to be very challenging as each grain/grain boundary is affected slightly differently by the PDTs. Therefore, we synthesized Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 absorbers on microcrystalline GaAs substrates to form millimeter-sized epitaxial domains with well-defined grain boundaries. This model system allows us to study the same surface orientation and grain boundary before and after PDTs. We find strong preferential (112) facets and Cu depletion on the surface, with the grain boundaries exhibiting very similar Cu-depleted compositions. After K deposition and annealing, Cu is pushed into the absorber, leaving a K-rich compound at the near-surface. Furthermore, we find different diffusion rates of K through the grain interior and via the grain boundaries. The exchange of Cu with K at the surface also occurs at the grain boundaries as measured with atom probe tomography. High-resolution KPFM measurements performed on the same grain boundary before and after PDT treatment show almost negligible grain boundary band bending. Cu-depleted K-rich area at the surface and grain boundaries exhibit very similar compositions, which gives rise to small band bending values. Our results give an unprecedented view of the mechanisms that occur at the surface, grain boundaries, and the bulk of CIGSe solar cells, paving the way to further develop the materials and improve the power conversion efficiency. (2026-06-03) *This entry has been automatically imported via OpenAlex by LIST harvest scripts. Please refer to https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-55190-9 for the original and latest version of the publication* (2026-07-01)
Subject	Astronomy and Astrophysics; Engineering; Physics
Keyword	Grain boundary Grain boundary diffusion coefficient Band bending Microcrystalline Effective diffusion coefficient Grain growth Grain boundary strengthening Diffusion Metal
Topic Classification	Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films solar cell performance optimization Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
Deposit Date	2026-06-03
Data Type	Article
Data Source	Scientific Reports

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