Influence of grain boundary modification on limited performance of wide bandgap Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

Abstract

The reason why so-called wide-bandgap CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGSe with x > 0.4) based solar cells show hindered performance compared with theoretical expectations is still a matter of debate. In the present Letter, atom probe tomography studies of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 polycrystalline thin films with x varying from 0 to 1 are reported. These investigations confirm that the grain boundaries (GBs) of low gallium containing (x < 0.4) CIGSe layers are Cu-depleted compared with grains interior (GI). In contrast, it is observed that the GBs of widest band gap CIGSe films (x > 0.8) are Cu-enriched compared with GI. For intermediate gallium contents (0.4 < x < 0.8), both types of GBs are detected. This threshold value of 0.4 surprisingly coincides with solar cells output voltage deviation from theoretical expectations, which suggests modifications of GBs properties could participate in the loss of photovoltaic performance.