Silver nanowire composite thin films as transparent electrodes for Cu(In,Ga)Se₂/ZnS thin film solar cells

Solution processed silver nanowire indium-tin oxide nanoparticle (AgNW-ITONP) composite thin films were successfully applied as the transparent electrodes for Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) thin film solar cells with ZnS buffer layers. Properties of the AgNW-ITONP thin film and its effects on performance of CIGS/ZnS thin film solar cells were studied. Compared with the traditional sputtered ITO electrodes, the AgNW-ITONP thin films show comparable optical transmittance and electrical conductivity. Furthermore, the AgNW-ITONP thin film causes no physical damage to the adjacent surface layer and does not need high temperature annealing, which makes it very suitable to use as transparent conductive layers for heat or sputtering damage-sensitive optoelectronic devices. By using AgNW-ITONP electrodes, the required thickness of the ZnS buffer layers for CIGS thin film solar cells was greatly decreased.