Polycrystalline CuInSe2 photoelectrochemical cells

Abstract
Photoelectrochemical cells with short term stability (at least) have been constructed from fracture surfaces of n‐type polycrystalline boules of CuInSe2. The recently developed electrolyte of Menezes [Appl. Phys. Lett. 4 5, 148 (1984)] appeared to have a passivating effect on grain boundaries. Samples with hundreds of boundaries easily attained half the best (12%) single crystal efficiency without any optimization. Microprobe analyses of the treated surfaces showed strong depletion of Cu and incorporation of I but the latter distribution appeared to be nonuniform. Poor fill factors were found on randomly fractured surfaces larger than 1 cm2. Only n‐type samples were successful.