Luminescent down-shifting CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystals for flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells

To overcome the parasitic absorption of ultraviolet (UV) light in the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer of flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells, a CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystal based luminescent down-shifting (LDS) layer was integrated on CIGS solar cells fabricated on a stainless steel foil. The CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystal absorbs solar irradiation at wavelengths shorter than 520 nm and emits photons at a wavelength of 532 nm. These down-shifted photons pass the TCO layer without parasitic absorption and are absorbed in the CIGS absorber layer where they generate photocurrent. By minimizing the parasitic absorption in the TCO layer, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the CIGS solar cell with the CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystal layer is highly improved in the UV wavelength range between 300 and 390 nm. Additionally, in the wavelength range between 500 and 1100 nm, the EQE is improved since the surface reflectance of the CIGS device with the CsPbBr3 perovskite LDS layer was reduced. This is because the CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystal layer, which has an effective refractive index of 1.82 at a wavelength of 800 nm, reduces the large refractive index mismatch between air (nair = 1.00) and the TCO layer (nZnO = 1.96 at a wavelength of 800 nm). Both the short circuit current density and power conversion efficiency of the flexible CIGS solar cell integrated with the CsPbBr3 perovskite are improved by 4.5% compared with the conventional CIGS solar cell without the CsPbBr3 perovskite LDS layer.