Abstract
Chalcopyrite p-type quaternary CuInxAl1-xSe2 (x=0.44-0.74) semiconductor photoelectrodes are prepared on various substrates via the reactive selenization of radio-frequency-sputtered Cu-In-Al metal precursors. The influence of the aluminum content in the quaternary CuInxAl1-xSe2 photoelectrodes on the structural, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of CuInxAl1-xSe2 samples is investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns and energy-dispersive analysis of X-rays results reveal that the metal precursors can be converted into the tetragonal CuInxAl1-xSe2 phase after the selenizations process under a Se atmosphere at a temperature of 570 °C for 1 h. The energy band gaps of samples are tuned by varying the aluminum content in samples. The direct energy band gap of samples increases from 1.25 to 1.8 eV when the [Al]/[Al+In] molar ratio in samples increases from 0.26 to 0.56. The mobility and carrier density of samples are in the ranges of 1.06-5.86 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 8.23×1016-2.34×1019 cm-3, respectively. The sample with an [Al]/[Al+In] molar ratio of 0.34 has the highest photoelectrochemical performance in aqueous H2SO4 solution with the applied bias photon-to-current efficiency (ABPCE) and photo-enhanced ABPCE of 8.99% and 3.61% at an applied voltage of -1.0 V vs. an Ag/AgCl electrode, respectively.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 120-130 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |
Volume | 151 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 01 07 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Optical materials
- Photoelectrochemical
- Plasma deposition
- Thin films