Photosensitivity of thin-film ZnO/CdS/Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cells

The photoelectric properties of thin-film ZnO/CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells were studied by polarization photoactive absorption spectroscopy. It was shown that the thin-film solar cells have a high efficiency relative to the intensity of unpolarized radiation in the photon energy range from 1.2 to 2.5 eV. The induced photopleochroism coefficient PI increases with the angle of incidence of the incident radiation as PI∼θ2 and at 70° it reaches 17–20% with photon energy 1.3 eV. Oscillations of the photopleochroism were also observed. These results are discussed taking into account the antireflection effect. The results obtained by us make it possible to use such solar cells as wide-band photosensors for linearly polarized radiation and for monitoring the production of high-efficiency, thin-film solar cells based on ternary semiconductors.