A Cu(InAl)Se2 solar cell with 16.9% efficiency is demonstrated using a Cu(InAl)Se2 thin film deposited by four-source elemental evaporation and a device structure of glass/Mo/Cu(InAl)Se2/CdS/ZnO/indium tin oxide/(Ni/Algrid)/MgF2. A key to high efficiency is improved adhesion between the Cu(InAl)Se2 and the Mo back contact layer, provided by a 5-nm-thick Ga interlayer, which enabled the Cu(InAl)Se2 to be deposited at a 530 °C substrate temperature. Film and device properties are compared to Cu(InGa)Se2 with the same band gap of 1.16 eV. The solar cells have similar behavior, with performance limited by recombination through trap states in the space charge region in the Cu(InAl)Se2 or Cu(InGa)Se2 layer.

CuIn 1−x Al x Se 2 thin films are investigated for their application as the absorber layer material for high efficiency solar cells. Single-phase CuIn1−xAlxSe2 films were deposited by four source elemental evaporation with a composition range of 0⩽x⩽0.6. All these films demonstrate a normalized subband gap transmission >85% with 2 μm film thickness. Band gaps obtained from spectroscopic ellipsometry show an increase with the Al content in the CuIn1−xAlxSe2 film with a bowing parameter of 0.62. The structural properties investigated using x-ray diffraction measurements show a decrease in lattice spacing as the Al content increases. Devices with efficiencies greater than 10% are fabricated on CuIn1−xAlxSe2 material over a wide range of Al composition. The best device demonstrated 11% efficiency, and the open circuit voltage increases to 0.73 V.

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