Earth abundant copper-zinc-tin-chalcogenide (CZTSSe) is an important class of material for the development of low cost and sustainable thin film solar cells. The fabrication of CZTSSe solar cells by selenization of CZTS nanocrystals is presented. By tuning the composition of the CZTS nanocrystals and developing a robust film coating method, a total area efficiency as high as 7.2% under AM 1.5 illumination and light soaking has been achieved.

Thin‐film solar cells using Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorber materials continue to attract increasing attention. The synthesis of kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles by a modified method of hot injection is explained. Characterization of the nanoparticles by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Raman, and transmission electron microscopy is presented and discussed. When suspended in an ink, coated, and processed into a device, the nanoparticles obtained by this synthesis achieve a total area (active area) efficiency of 9.0% (9.8%) using AM 1.5 illumination and light soaking. This improvement over the previous efficiency of 7.2% is attributed to the modified synthesis approach, as well as fine‐tuned conditions for selenizing the coated nanoparticles into a dense absorber layer. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Electron microscopy touches on nearly every aspect of modern life, underpinning materials development for quantum computing, energy and medicine. We discuss the open, highly integrated and data-driven microscopy architecture needed to realize transformative discoveries in the coming decade.