Band gap energy of chalcopyrite thin film solar cell absorbers determined by soft x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy

The chemical and electronic structure of high-efficiency chalcopyrite thin film solar cell absorbers significantly differs between the surface and the bulk. While it is widely accepted that the absorber surface exhibits a Cu-poor surface phase with increased band gap (Eg), a direct access to the crucial information of the depth-dependency of Eg is still missing. In this paper, we demonstrate that a combination of x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy allows a determination of Eg in the surface-near bulk and thus complements the established surface- and bulk-sensitive techniques of Eg determination. As an example, we discuss the determination of Eg for a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber and find a value of (1.52 ± 0.20) eV.