Mitigation of phase separation in high Ga Cu(In,Ga)S2 absorbers to achieve 1 volt 15.6% power conversion efficiency

The use of Cu(In,Ga)S2 as a top cell in tandem solar cell, despite having suitable properties for such an application, is hampered by a high open-circuit voltage (VOC) deficit. The deficit arises from a poor optoelectronic quality of the absorbers - engendered by phase separation - and the inadequate translation of the optoelectronic quality of the absorber into device VOC. In this work, we report the role of first stage substrate temperature in the mitigation of phase separation and optimized Cu-excess during growth in Cu(In,Ga)S2, which leads to reduced VOC deficit, resulting in a device with 15.6 % PCE with a VOC of ∼ 981 mV when completed with atomic layer deposited (Zn,Sn)O and Al:ZnMgO transparent conductive oxide.