Development of ultra high purity ternary nitride thin film using chemical vapor deposition for photovoltaics

Abstract

Over the past several decades, various solar materials such as $Si, Cu(In, Ga)Se_2 (CIGS), CdTe$, and perovskite have been studied, some of which have been commercialized. However, although these materials have high power conversion efficiency, they still face problems with toxicity, cost efficiency, and environmental friendliness. In recent years, nitrides have started attracting attention as a material that can potentially solve these problems. Nitride materials such as II–IV–$N_2$, have the potential to be excellent photo absorbers confirmed through various computational and experimental researches. Among the II–IV–$N_2$ series, $ZnSnN_2$ (ZTN), in particular, has excellent properties as a light absorber layer for solar cells and also has the advantage of being made of elements that are earth-abundant and non-toxic. In this thesis, for the first time, we studied the synthesis and control of material properties of ZTN using by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). Furthermore, we will discuss strategies for ZTN based thin film solar cells.