Charge carrier dynamics and recombination in graded band gap CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂ polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic solar cell absorbers

Journal Article · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4825211· OSTI ID:1260898

Kuciauskas, Darius ^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[1]; Contreras, Miguel A. ^[1]; Pankow, Joel ^[1]; Dippo, Patricia ^[1]; Young, Matthew ^[1]; Mansfield, Lorelle M. ^[1]; Noufi, Rommel ^[1]; Levi, Dean ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

We report the results of spectroscopic time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) analysis for polycrystalline CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂ (CIGS) films. On the <5 ns time scale, we investigated minority carrier spatial redistribution from the initial absorption profile near the surface of the films to the conduction band minimum. Based on these data, the estimated minority carrier mobility is 75–230 cm² V^-1s^-1. Full TRPL decays were analyzed using models for donor-acceptor pair (DAP) recombination. We estimated that the concentration of DAP recombination centers was 5×10¹⁵–10¹⁷cm^-3. Data also show that Shockley-Reed-Hall and surface recombination are not significant for polycrystalline CIGS absorbers used in high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1260898
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5200-59036
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 114, Issue 15; ISSN 0021-8979
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
solar
thin-film
photovoltaic
PV
solar cell
polycrystalline