RbF post deposition treatment for narrow bandgap Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

Multi-junction solar cells are known to have a considerably increased efficiency potential over their typical single junction counterparts. In order to produce low cost and lightweight multi-junction devices, the availability of suitable narrow (<1.1 eV) bandgap bottom cells is paramount. A possible absorber for such a bottom cell is the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) compound semiconductor, one of the most efficient thin film materials to date. In this contribution we report on the RbF post deposition treatment of narrow bandgap CIGS absorbers grown with a single bandgap grading approach. We discuss the necessary deposition conditions and the observed improvements on solar cells performance. A certified record efficiency of 18.0% for an absorber with 1.00 eV optoelectronic bandgap is presented and its suitability for perovskite/CIGS tandem devices is shown.