Photoluminescence and time‐resolved photoluminescence in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films and solar cells

Abstract

AbstractPhotoluminescence (PL) and time‐resolved PL (TR‐PL) studies have been carried out on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films and solar cells (ZnO/CdS/CIGS) to study the recombination of the photo‐excited carriers. The CIGS solar cells exhibited intense near‐band‐edge (NBE) PL compared with the CIGS films by two orders of magnitude. PL decay time of the cell is strongly dependent on the repetition frequency of the excitation light. PL decay time of the cell is longer than that of the corresponding CIGS thin film. The chemical bath deposition of the CdS buffer layer on CIGS leads to changes in PL intensity, defect‐related PL and the PL decay time. They are discussed with relation to the substitution of Cd atom at the Cu site at the Cu‐deficient surface of CIGS thin film. Under the open circuit condition, NBE‐PL is stronger and the decay time is longer compared with those under the short circuit condition. PL of the cell under the load was examined, and PL intensity and PL decay time are related to the photovoltage during PL measurements. Low temperature PL suggests that the Cd diffusion during the CBD process is pronounced for low Ga content CIGS. The authors demonstrate the effectiveness of PL as a powerful non‐destructive device and photovoltaic characterization methods of CIGS solar cells. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)