Evaluation of recombination losses in thin film solar cells using an LED sun simulator − the effect of RbF post-deposition on CIGS solar cells

Abstract

Distinguishing among different electrical loss mechanisms − such as interface and bulk recombination − is a common problem in thin film solar cells. In this work, we report a J–V measurement technique using different illuminating spectra to distinguish between these two recombination losses. The basic idea is to change the relative contribution of bulk recombination to the total losses of photo-generated charge carriers by generating them in different depths within the absorber layer using different spectral regions of the illuminating light. The use of modern LED sun-simulators allows an almost free design of illumination spectra at intensities close to 1 sun. The comparison of two simple J–V measurements, one recorded with illumination near the absorber's band-gap energy and one with light of higher energy, in combination with supporting measurements of the absorber properties, as well as device modeling, enables the extraction of the diffusion length and the interface recombination velocity. Using this technique, we show that in CIGS solar cells, an RbF post-deposition treatment does not only reduce interface recombination losses, as often reported, but also reduces bulk recombination in the CIGS absorber. Furthermore, we find that both cells, with and without RbF treatment, are dominantly affected by interface recombination losses.