Microscopic insight into the impact of the KF post-deposition treatment on optoelectronic properties of (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

It is attractive to alloy Cu(In,Ga)Se-2 solar-cell absorbers with Ag (ACIGSe), since they lead to similar device performances as the Ag-free absorber layers, while they can be synthesized at much lower deposition temperatures. However, a KF post-deposition treatment (PDT) of the ACIGSe absorber surface is necessary to achieve higher open-circuit voltages (V-oc). The present work provides microscopic insights to the effects of this KF PDT, employing correlative scanning-electron microscope techniques on identical positions of cross-sectional specimens of the cell stacks. We found that the increase in V-oc after the KF PDT can be explained by the removal of Cu-poor, Ag-poor, and Ga-rich regions near the ACIGSe/CdS interface. The KF PDT leads, when optimally doped, to a very thin K-Ag-Cu-Ga-In-Se layer between ACIGSe and CdS. If the KF dose is too large, we find that Cu-poor and K-rich regions form near the ACIGSe/CdS interface with enhanced nonradiative recombination which explains a decrease in the V-oc. This effect occurs in addition to the presence of a (K,Ag,Cu)InSe2 intermediate layer, that might be responsible for limiting the short-current density of the solar cells due to a current blocking behavior.

Automated summary

The KF post-deposition treatment can increase Voc by removing Cu-poor, Ag-poor, and Ga-rich regions near the ACIGSe/CdS interface. However, an excessive KF dose may lead to the formation of Cu-poor and K-rich regions near the interface, resulting in a decrease in Voc.