Developments of High-Efficiency Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ Thin Film Solar Cells on a Polyimide Sheet by Sodium Incorporation

We present the fabrication of flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells on a polyimide (PI) sheet with and without Na incorporation. A sodium element is incorporated into the CIGS absorber by using a NaF precursor after Mo back contact deposition. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the (112) preferred orientation of the as-grown CIGS films is decreased by Na incorporation. The secondary phase of (In_x,Ga_1?x)₂Se₃ is observed for the CIGS films with Na. There is no significant difference in the grain size with and without Na incorporation from surface and cross-sectional SEM images. Additionally, the increase of carrier concentration and decrease of resistivity of CIGS absorber are induced by Na doping. Finally, the flexible CIGS solar cells on PI sheets with efficiency close to 11%, containing Na, are achieved. The improvement of cell efficiency can be attributed to the modified electrical properties of the CIGS film by Na incorporation.