ZnO diffusion barrier layer was deposited by RF magnetron sputtering by using the same method as intrinsic ZnO layer. The CIGS solar cells were fabricated on stainless steel substrate. The 50-200 nm thin ZnO diffusion barriers effectively reduced the diffusion of Fe and Cr, from stainless steel substrates into the CIGS absorbers. The CIGS solar cells with ZnO diffusion barriers increased the J(sc) and FF, which resulted in an increase of cell efficiency from 5.9% up to 9.06%.