0000000000805542
AUTHOR
Christian D. R. Ludwig
showing 2 related works from this author
Spatial inhomogeneities and defect structures in CIGS and CIS materials: An ab-initio based Monte Carlo study
2011
The chalcopyrite semiconductors CuIn 1−x Ga x Se 2 (CIGS) and CuInSe 2 (CIS) are excellent materials for high efficiency and low cost thin-film solar cells. This is due to the effective absorption of the solar spectrum and the inherent resilience to defects and composition fluctuations. Although the CIGS and CIS material in solar cells is highly inhomogeneous and exhibits a lot of different defects, the cell efficiencies are exceptionally high. If single crystalline absorbers are used, efficiencies are lower. Therefore, studying spatial inhomogeneities and defect structures is of great importance for understanding what supports and what diminishes the efficiency and robustness of the cells.…
Indium-Gallium Segregation inCuInxGa1−xSe2: AnAb Initio–Based Monte Carlo Study
2010
Thin-film solar cells with ${\mathrm{CuIn}}_{x}{\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Se}}_{2}$ (CIGS) absorber are still far below their efficiency limit, although lab cells already reach 20.1%. 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 contributes to the observed low efficiency of Ga-rich CIGS solar cells.