ALD-Zn x Ti y O as Window Layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells

We report on the application of Zn x Ti y O deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) as buffer layer in thin film Cu­(In,Ga)­Se2 (CIGS) solar cells to improve the photovoltaic device performance. State-of-the-art CIGS devices employ a CdS/ZnO layer stack sandwiched between the absorber layer and the front contact. Replacing the sputter deposited ZnO with ALD-Zn x Ti y O allowed a reduction of the CdS layer thickness without adversely affecting open-circuit voltage (V OC). This leads to an increased photocurrent density with a device efficiency of up to 20.8% by minimizing the parasitic absorption losses commonly observed for CdS. ALD was chosen as method to deposit homogeneous layers of Zn x Ti y O with varying Ti content with a [Ti]/([Ti] + [Zn]) atomic fraction up to ∼0.35 at a relatively low temperature of 373 K. The Ti content influenced the absorption behavior of the Zn x Ti y O layer by increasing the optical bandgap >3.5 eV in the investigated range. Temperature-dependent current–voltage (I–V) measurements of solar cells were performed to investigate the photocurrent blocking behavior observed for high Ti content. Possible conduction band discontinuities introduced by Zn x Ti y O are discussed based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements.