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Composition‐Dependent Passivation Efficiency at the CdS/CuIn 1- x Ga x Se 2 Interface
Author(s) -
Ballabio Marco,
Fuertes Marrón David,
Barreau Nicolas,
Bonn Mischa,
Cánovas Enrique
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201907763
Subject(s) - copper indium gallium selenide solar cells , passivation , materials science , band gap , optoelectronics , chalcopyrite , carrier lifetime , recombination , semiconductor , charge carrier , energy conversion efficiency , solar cell , nanotechnology , silicon , copper , metallurgy , chemistry , layer (electronics) , biochemistry , gene
The bandgap of CuIn 1- x Ga x Se 2 (CIGS) chalcopyrite semiconductors can be tuned between ≈1.0 and ≈1.7 eV for Ga contents ranging between x = 0 and x = 1. While an optimum bandgap of 1.34 eV is desirable for achieving maximum solar energy conversion in solar cells, state‐of‐the‐art CIGS‐based devices experience a drop in efficiency for Ga contents x > 0.3 (i.e., for bandgaps >1.2 eV), an aspect that is limiting the full potential of these devices. The mechanism underlying the limited performance as a function of CIGS composition has remained elusive: both surface and bulk recombination effects are proposed. Here, the disentanglement between surface and bulk effects in CIGS absorbers as a function of Ga content is achieved by comparing photogenerated charge carrier dynamics in air/CIGS and surface‐passivated ZnO/CdS/CIGS samples. While surface passivation prevents surface recombination of charge carriers for low Ga content ( x < 0.3; up to 1.2 eV bandgap), surface recombination dominates for higher‐bandgap materials. The results thus demonstrate that surface, rather than bulk effects, is responsible for the drop in efficiency for Ga contents larger than x ≈ 0.3.