The unusual defect chemistry of polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin films is a main issue for a profound understanding of recombination losses in chalcopyrite thin-film solar cells. Especially, impurity-driven passivation of electronic levels due to point defects segregating at the surface and at grain boundaries is extensively debated. By combining current imaging tunneling spectroscopy with photoelectron spectroscopy, the local defect-level density and unusual optoelectronic grain-boundary properties of this material are correlated with the macroscopic energy levels and surface composition. Vacuum annealing of different CIGSe materials provides evidence that Na diffusion from the glass substrate does not affect the surface defect passivation or grain-boundary properties of standard Cu-poor materials. Furthermore, we find no major impact on the observed thermally activated dipole compensation or the accompanying change in surface band bending (up to 0.6 eV) due to Na. In contrast, Cu-rich CIGSe shows an opposing surface defect chemistry with only minor heat-induced band bending. Our results lead to a comprehensive picture, where the highly desirable type inversion at the p/n interface in standard chalcopyrite thin-film solar cells is dominated by band bending within the CIGSe absorber rather than the result of Na impurities or an n-type defect phase segregating at the interface. This is in accordance with recent studies suggesting a surface reconstruction as the origin for Cu depletion and band-gap widening at the surface of chalcopyrite thin films.

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Cu-poor and Cu-rich Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) absorbers were used as substrates for the chemical bath deposition of ultrathin CdS buffer layers in the thickness range of a few nanometers in order to make the CIGSe/CdS interface accessible by hard X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy. The composition of both, the absorber and the buffer layer as well as the energetics of the interface was investigated at room temperature and after heating the samples to elevated temperatures (200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C). It was found that the amount of Cd after the heating treatment depends on the near surface composition of the CIGSe absorber. No Cd was detected on the Cu-poor surface after the 400 °C treatment due to its diffusion into the CIGSe layer. In contrast, Cd was still present on the Cu-rich surface after the same treatment at 400 °C.

Modifications at the CIGSe/CdS interface due to KF-PDT are studied using synchrotron radiation.