Junction formation of Cu3BiS3 investigated

by Kelvin probe force microscopy and

surface photovoltage measurements
Fredy Mesa1,2, William Chamorro3, William Vallejo3, Robert Baier4,
Thomas Dittrich4, Alexander Grimm4, Martha C. Lux-Steiner4
and Sascha Sadewasser*4,5

Full Research Paper Open Access

Address: Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 277–284.

1Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Departamento de Física, Cra. 30 doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.31
No 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia, 2Universidad Libre, Departamento de
Ciencias Básicas, Cra. 70 No 53-40, Bogotá, Colombia, 3Universidad Received: 02 December 2011
Nacional de Colombia, Departamento de Química, Cra. 30 No 45-03, Accepted: 21 February 2012
Bogotá, Colombia, 4Helmholtz-Zentrum für Materialien und Energie, Published: 23 March 2012
Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany and 5International
Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Avda. Mestre José Veiga s/n, This article is part of the Thematic Series "Noncontact atomic force
4715-330 Braga, Portugal microscopy".

Email: Guest Editor: U. D. Schwarz

Sascha Sadewasser* - sascha.sadewasser@inl.int
© 2012 Mesa et al; licensee Beilstein-Institut.
* Corresponding author License and terms: see end of document.

Keywords:
buffer layer; Cu3BiS3; Kelvin probe force microscopy; solar cells

Abstract
Recently, the compound semiconductor Cu3BiS3 has been demonstrated to have a band gap of ~1.4 eV, well suited for photo-
voltaic energy harvesting. The preparation of polycrystalline thin films was successfully realized and now the junction formation to
the n-type window needs to be developed. We present an investigation of the Cu3BiS3 absorber layer and the junction formation
with CdS, ZnS and In2S3 buffer layers. Kelvin probe force microscopy shows the granular structure of the buffer layers with small
grains of 20–100 nm, and a considerably smaller work-function distribution for In2S3 compared to that of CdS and ZnS. For In2S3
and CdS buffer layers the KPFM experiments indicate negatively charged Cu3BiS3 grain boundaries resulting from the deposition
of the buffer layer. Macroscopic measurements of the surface photovoltage at variable excitation wavelength indicate the influence
of defect states below the band gap on charge separation and a surface-defect passivation by the In2S3 buffer layer. Our findings
indicate that Cu3BiS3 may become an interesting absorber material for thin-film solar cells; however, for photovoltaic application
the band bending at the charge-selective contact has to be increased.

Introduction
Thin-film solar cells based on absorbers made from application in solar cells because of their excellent absorption
Cu(In,Ga)Se2 [1] or CdTe [2] reach the highest efficiencies properties due to the direct band gap. With the current efforts
currently available. Both semiconductors are interesting for the towards a large-scale fabrication of such solar cells, problems

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