Indium-Gallium Segregation in CuIn${}_x$Ga${}_{1-x}$Se${}_2$: An ab initio based Monte Carlo Study

Abstract

Thin-film solar cells with CuIn${}_x$Ga${}_{1-x}$Se${}_2$ (CIGS) absorber are still far below their efficiency limit, although lab cells reach already 19.9%. One important aspect is the homogeneity of the alloy. Large-scale simulations combining Monte Carlo and density functional calculations show that two phases coexist in thermal equilibrium below room temperature. Only at higher temperatures, CIGS becomes more and more a homogeneous alloy. A larger degree of inhomogeneity for Ga-rich CIGS persists over a wide temperature range, which may contribute to the low observed efficiency of Ga-rich CIGS solar cells.

References in corpus (1)

• The Alloy Theoretic Automated Toolkit: A User Guide

Cited by in corpus (1)

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