Review of grain interior, grain boundary, and interface effects of K in CIGS solar cells: Mechanisms for performance enhancement

•Potassium has led to recent world record CIGS power conversion efficiencies.•Many reports have now studied K in CIGS, but there is poor consensus among them.•K can affect performance in the grain interiors, grain boundaries and interfaces.•KIn1−yGaySe2 forms on the absorber surface during KF post-deposition treatments.•KIn1−yGaySe2 reduces interface recombination, although the mechanism is unknown.

Introducing K into Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) absorbers has led to recent world record power conversion efficiencies for thin film polycrystalline solar cells. In this work, the diverse phenomena associated with K in CIGS were reviewed, and overarching mechanisms were identified. The effects of K depend on its distribution among grain interiors (GIs), grain boundaries (GBs), and interfaces. High substrate Na and low temperature favor GI K incorporation, while low Na and high temperature favor segregation of K at GBs. Depositing KInSe2 (or KIn1−yGaySe2) by co-evaporation or KF post-deposition treatment onto CIGS reduces buffer interface recombination in the final solar cells. KInSe2 decomposes in air, which makes characterization difficult and may affect performance. The mechanism for reduced interface recombination could be direct passivation, beneficial compound precursor, oxidation barrier, or favorable diffusion alteration.

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