Improved Rear Surface Passivation of Cu(In,Ga)Se$_{\bf 2}$ Solar Cells: A Combination of an Al$_{\bf 2}$O $_{\bf 3}$ Rear Surface Passivation Layer and Nanosized Local Rear Point Contacts

An innovative rear contacting structure for copper indium gallium (di) selenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cells is developed in an industrially viable way and demonstrated in tangible devices. The idea stems from the silicon (Si) industry, where rear surface passivation layers are combined with micron-sized local point contacts to boost the open-circuit voltage (V
_OC
) and, hence, cell efficiency. However, compared with Si solar cells, CIGS solar cell minority carrier diffusion lengths are several orders lower in magnitude. Therefore, the proposed CIGS cell design reduces rear surface recombination by combining a rear surface passivation layer and nanosized local point contacts. Atomic layer deposition of Al
₂
O
₃
is used to passivate the CIGS surface and the formation of nanosphere-shaped precipitates in chemical bath deposition of CdS to generate nanosized point contact openings. The manufactured Al
₂
O
₃
rear surface passivated CIGS solar cells with nanosized local rear point contacts show a significant improvement in V
_OC
compared with unpassivated reference cells.