Numerical analysis of Ga gradient effects in ACIGS absorbers for high-efficiency tandem solar cells

IF 3.3 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC Optical and Quantum Electronics Pub Date : 2025-03-12 DOI:10.1007/s11082-025-08092-5

Nour El I. Boukortt, Antonio Garcia Loureiro, Ohood A. Almutairi

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Abstract

Ag-alloyed Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (ACIGS) is a promising material for the bottom subcell in tandem solar cell structures, offering a tunable bandgap that spans the optimal range for maximum efficiency; however, the bandgap widening of ACIGS thin films poses a significant challenge in enhancing their photocurrent. This paper investigates the impact of different grading profiles, specifically focusing on the 'hockey stick'/V-like Ga gradient–induced (GGI) profiles, on the performance of thin-film ACIGS cells. To enhance the physical understanding of these grading profiles we have used Silvaco TCAD tools to analyze how these profiles' depths, notch position, and slope affect the power conversion efficiency (PCE). The optimized ACIGS cell achieves a PCE of 25.80%, compared to 23.60% for the reference device. For the tandem configuration, we pair the optimized ACIGS bottom cell (double grading profile) with a perovskite top cell (band gap ~ 1.66 eV), achieving an overall efficiency of 30.26% under AM1.5G illumination. The obtained results highlight the critical role of Ga gradient profiles in enhancing the bottom cell's performance and stability. Additionally, we compare our results with existing studies to evaluate the broader impact of Ga compositional optimization on ACIGS-based solar cells. This work provides valuable insights into advanced grading strategies and helps us understand the physical behaviour of these high-performance tandem solar cells.

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来源期刊

Optical and Quantum Electronics 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

20.00%

发文量

810

审稿时长

3.8 months

期刊介绍： Optical and Quantum Electronics provides an international forum for the publication of original research papers, tutorial reviews and letters in such fields as optical physics, optical engineering and optoelectronics. Special issues are published on topics of current interest. Optical and Quantum Electronics is published monthly. It is concerned with the technology and physics of optical systems, components and devices, i.e., with topics such as: optical fibres; semiconductor lasers and LEDs; light detection and imaging devices; nanophotonics; photonic integration and optoelectronic integrated circuits; silicon photonics; displays; optical communications from devices to systems; materials for photonics (e.g. semiconductors, glasses, graphene); the physics and simulation of optical devices and systems; nanotechnologies in photonics (including engineered nano-structures such as photonic crystals, sub-wavelength photonic structures, metamaterials, and plasmonics); advanced quantum and optoelectronic applications (e.g. quantum computing, memory and communications, quantum sensing and quantum dots); photonic sensors and bio-sensors; Terahertz phenomena; non-linear optics and ultrafast phenomena; green photonics.