Cd-Free Cu2ZnSnS4solar cell with an efficiency greater than 10% enabled by Al2O3passivation layers

Cui, Xin; Sun, Kaiwen; Huang, Jialiang; Yun, Jae Sung; Lee, Chang‐Yeh; Yan, Chang; Sun, Heng; Zhang, Yuanfang; Xue, Chaowei; Eder, Katja; Yang, Limei; Cairney, Julie M.; Seidel, Jan; Ekins-Daukes, N. J.; Green, Martin A.; Hoex, Bram; Hao, Xiaojing

doi:10.1039/c9ee01726g

Cited by 139 publications

(129 citation statements)

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“…In recent time, earth-abundant and low-cost compound semiconductor materials like Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS), Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 (CZTSe), and Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) have gained massive consideration as alternate materials instead of CIGS and CdTe as they have shown the efficiency of 10%, 11.95%, and 12.62%, respectively. [67][68][69] But, kesterite material consists of many elements. 70 The presence of many elements in the absorber layer increases the processing cost, and defects are also formed during the processing, which ultimately reduces the overall PCE of solar cells.…”

Section: Thin Lm Solar Cells (Tfscs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

et al. 2021

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Section: Thin Lm Solar Cells (Tfscs)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

et al. 2021

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“…[ 4–6 ] However, the record efficiency of CZTSSe has stagnated at 12.6% for years. [ 5,7 ] Alkali incorporation has been considered as one of the most promising strategies for further enhancing the performance of kesterite solar cells. [ 8–11 ] The recent studies on lithium incorporation have demonstrated the most positive impact on optoelectronic properties of CZTSSe among all the alkali elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Efficiency Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ Solar Cells with Shallow Li_Zn Acceptor Defects Enabled by Solution‐Based Li Post‐Deposition Treatment

Zhou

Huang

et al. 2021

Advanced Energy Materials

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Lithium incorporation in kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) materials has been experimentally proven effective in improving electronic quality for application in photovoltaic devices. Herein, a feasible and effective solution‐based lithium post‐deposition treatment (PDT), enabling further efficiency improvement on the high‐performance baseline is reported and the dominant mechanism for this improvement is proposed. In this way, lithium is uniformly incorporated into grain interiors (GIs) without segregation at grain boundaries (GBs), which can occupy the Zn sites with a high solubility in the CZTSSe matrix, producing high density of LiZn antisites with shallower acceptor levels than the intrinsic dominant defect (CuZn antisites). As a result, CZTSSe absorber with better p‐type doping is obtained, leading to a pronounced enhancement in fill factor and a corresponding gain in open‐circuit voltage and short‐circuit current and consequently a significant efficiency boost from 9.3% to 10.7%. This work provides a feasible alternative alkali‐PDT treatment for chalcogenide semiconductors and promotes a better understanding of the mechanism of Li incorporation in kesterite materials.

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“…Preliminary tests of dielectric passivation on chalcogenides front surface have been studied [7,8,36]. However, no significant improvements in the CIGS device performance were observed [7,8] suggesting that a fundamental understanding of the dielectric physical properties and the impact of those layers on the CIGS optoelectronic properties are still needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Front passivation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells using Al2O3: Culprits and benefits

Curado

Teixeira

Monteiro

et al. 2020

Applied Materials Today

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In recent years, the strategies used to break the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) world record of light to power conversion efficiency, were based on improvements of the absorber optoelectronic and crystalline properties, mainly using complex post-deposition treatments. To reach even higher efficiency values, advances in the solar cell architecture are needed focusing in the CIGS interfaces. In this study, we evaluate the structural, morphological and optoelectronic impact on the CIGS properties of using an Al2O3 layer as a potential front passivation layer. The impact of Al2O3 tunnelling layer between CIGS and CdS is also addressed in this study. Morphological and structural analyses reveal that the use of Al2O3 alone is not detrimental to CIGS, although it does not resist to the CdS chemical bath deposition. When CdS is deposited on top of Al2O3, the CIGS optoelectronic properties are heavily degraded. Nonetheless, when Al2O3 is used alone, optoelectronic measurements reveal a positive impact of its inclusion such as a very low concentration of interface defects and the CIGS keeping the same recombination channels. With the findings of this study the best use of Al2O3 front passivation layer could be with alternative buffer layers. The Al2O3 layer will keep the CIGS surface with a low density of defects while keeping its structural and optoelectronic properties as good as the ones when CdS is deposited. It can also be reported that a comparison between the different analyses allowed us to strongly suggest for the first time that low-energy muon spin spectroscopy (LE-μSR) is sensitive to both charge carrier separation and bulk recombination in complex semiconductors.

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Cd-Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄solar cell with an efficiency greater than 10% enabled by Al₂O₃passivation layers

Abstract: Cd-Free CZTS solar cell with above 10% efficiency was achieved by an Al2O3 passivation layer prepared by ALD.

Cited by 139 publications

References 54 publications

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

High Efficiency Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ Solar Cells with Shallow Li_Zn Acceptor Defects Enabled by Solution‐Based Li Post‐Deposition Treatment

Front passivation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells using Al2O3: Culprits and benefits

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Cd-Free Cu2ZnSnS4solar cell with an efficiency greater than 10% enabled by Al2O3passivation layers

Abstract: Cd-Free CZTS solar cell with above 10% efficiency was achieved by an Al2O3 passivation layer prepared by ALD.

Cited by 139 publications

References 54 publications

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

Tin-selenide as a futuristic material: properties and applications

High Efficiency Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells with Shallow LiZn Acceptor Defects Enabled by Solution‐Based Li Post‐Deposition Treatment

Front passivation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells using Al2O3: Culprits and benefits

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Product

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Cd-Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄solar cell with an efficiency greater than 10% enabled by Al₂O₃passivation layers

High Efficiency Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ Solar Cells with Shallow Li_Zn Acceptor Defects Enabled by Solution‐Based Li Post‐Deposition Treatment