Charge carrier dynamics and recombination in graded band gap CuIn 1-x Ga x Se 2 polycrystalline thin-film photovoltaic solar cell absorbers
We report the results of spectroscopic time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) analysis for polycrystalline CuIn 1-x Ga x Se 2 (CIGS) films. On the <5 ns time scale, we investigated minority carrier spatial redistribution from the initial absorption profile near the surface of the films to the conduction band minimum. Based on these data, the estimated minority carrier mobility is 75–230 cm 2 V -1 s -1 . Full TRPL decays were analyzed using models for donor-acceptor pair (DAP) recombination. We estimated that the concentration of DAP recombination centers was 5×10 15 –10 17 cm -3 . Data also show that Shockley-Reed-Hall and surface recombination are not significant for polycrystalline CIGS absorbers used in high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells.