Photovoltaic Properties of Selenized CuGa/In Films with Varied Compositions

Thin CuGa/In films with varied compositions were deposited by co-evaporation and then selenized in situ with evaporated selenium. The selenized Cu(In, Ga)Se₂ absorbers were used to fabricate 390 solar cells. Cu/(Ga+In) and Ga/(Ga+In) (Cu/III and Ga/III) were independently varied, and photovoltaic performance was optimal at Cu/III of 77-92% for all Ga/III compositions studied (Ga/III ∼ 30, 50, and 70%). The best absorbers at each Ga/III composition were characterized with time-resolved photoluminescence, scanning electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry, and devices were studied with temperature-dependent current density-voltage, light and electrical biased quantum efficiency, and capacitance-voltage. The best cells with Ga/III ∼ 30, 50, and 70% had efficiencies of 14.5, 14.4, and 12.2% and maximum power temperature coefficients of -0.496, -0.452, and -0.413%/°C, respectively. This resulted in the Ga/III ∼ 50% champion having the highest efficiency at temperatures greater than 40°C, making it the optimal composition for practical purposes. This optimum is understood as a result of the absorber's band gap grading - where minimum band gap dominates short-circuit current density, maximum space charge region band gap dominates open-circuit voltage, and average absorber band gap dominates maximum power temperature coefficient.