Illumination-enhanced annealing of electron-irradiated Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells

Annealing of radiation-induced defects by light and/or elevated temperatures is important for the prediction of solar cell performance in space. The present systematic annealing studies of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells irradiated with 1-MeV electrons unveil that almost complete recovery of the solar cell parameters is possible by thermal annealing or by illuminating the solar cell with white light at room temperature. The light-induced annealing process is already mediated at light intensities of 10 mWcm^-2. Compared to thermal annealing, the annealing time constant under illumination is reduced by several orders of magnitude.