For the first time, a team of researchers at the HZB led by
Dr. Roland Mainz and Dr. Christian Kaufmann has managed to observe growth of
high-efficiency chalcopyrite thin film solar cells in real time and to study
the formation and degradation of defects that compromise efficiency. To this
end, the scientists set up a novel measuring chamber at the Berlin electron
storage ring BESSY II, which allows them to combine several different kinds of
measuring techniques. Their results show during which process stages the growth
can be accelerated and when additional time is required to reduce defects.
Their work has now been published online in Advanced Energy Materials.