Study of the Mo/CuInS2/ZnS system by TEM

This work presents results from a study carried out on the Mo/CuInS2/ZnS stacked layers, using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). This system will be used later for the fabrication of solar cells with Mo/CuInS2/ZnS/TCO structure, where the layers conforming it will perform as an electrical contact, absorber layer and buffer layer, respectively. The layers of the Mo/CuInS2/ZnS system were deposited sequentially on soda lime glass substrates. The Mo film was deposited by DC magnetron sputtering, the CuInS2 (CIS) layer was grown by co-evaporation of precursors in a two-stage process and the ZnS was deposited by co-evaporation and by CBD (chemical bath deposition) using a solution containing zinc acetate, sodium citrate, ammonia and thiourea. The performed study provided significant information regarding crystalline structure, grain boundaries and defects visualization of each one of the layers as well as of the Mo/CuInS2 and CuInS2/ZnS interfaces. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.