Patent ID: 8551802

Claim:
A method for forming a thin film solar cell, the method comprising: depositing a back contact on a substrate; depositing an absorber layer on the back contact, the absorber layer comprising a compound semiconductor haying multiple components; annealing the absorber layer using a laser; wherein the annealing forms non-equilibrium solid phases such that at least one of the multiple components is not uniformly distributed in the in the absorber layer with respect to the remaining components; wherein forming the non-equilibrium solid phases comprises forming multiple different liquid phases that are not stable under equilibrium conditions and solidifying the multiple different liquid phases into the non-equilibrium solid phases; depositing a buffer layer on the absorber layer after annealing the absorber layer; annealing the buffer layer with a laser; and depositing a front contact on the annealed buffer layer after annealing the buffer layer.