Toward high efficiency ultra-thin CIGSe based solar cells using light management techniques

This study addresses the potential of different approaches to improve the generated current density in ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGSe) based solar cells down to 0.1 μm. Advanced photon management, involving both absorption enhancement and reflection reduction in the absorber, is studied. In this contribution, the three main approaches used are: - The reduction of the CIGSe thickness by chemical etching which combines thickness reduction and smoothing effect on the absorber. - Optical management by front contact engineering and by the replacement of the back contact by the "lift-off" of CIGSe layer from the Mo layer and the deposition of a new reflective back contact. - Application of plasmonic structures to CIGSe solar cells enabling light confinement at the subwavelength scale.