Sulfurization temperature dependent physical properties of Cu2SnS3 films grown by a two-stage process

Guddeti, Phaneendra Reddy; Gedi, Sreedevi; Reddy, K.T. Ramakrishna

doi:10.1016/j.mssp.2018.06.021

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…MoS 2 on Mo,[41] the residual layer shows a main Raman peak at around 326 cm −1 , distinguished from the features at 338 and 313 cm −1 related to residual kesterite CZTS and a trace amount of SnS 2 residual, respectively [42]. The additional peaks at around 326 cm −1 can be attributed to tetragonal Cu 2 SnS 3 with a Cu/Sn ratio close to the L-CTS phase (Cu/Sn ≈1.83) as obtained from HRTEM [42][43][44][45]. The morphology evolution at different sulfurization stages is shown in Figure3d.…”

mentioning

confidence: 69%

“…[ 42 ] The additional peaks at around 326 cm −1 can be attributed to tetragonal Cu 2 SnS 3 with a Cu/Sn ratio close to the L‐CTS phase (Cu/Sn ≈1.83) as obtained from HRTEM. [ 42–45 ] The morphology evolution at different sulfurization stages is shown in Figure 3d. During the sulfurization, CZTS quaternary nanocrystals started to form at t1 (450 °C) within the whole the absorber layer and grew into larger grains at t2 (500 °C), leaving a small‐grain layer between the CZTS large‐grain layer and Mo contact.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

Yuan

Huang

et al. 2022

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efficiency (PCE) of CZTS solar cells is stagnated at 11.0%, showing a large efficiency gap compared to the Shockley-Queisser limit. [7,8] Besides the well-recognized opencircuit voltage (V OC ) deficit, E g /q-V OC , the low performance of CZTS solar cell should also be largely attributed to its low carrier collection efficiency compared to Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) and CdTe solar cells. [9][10][11] The low carrier collection efficiency is usually attributed to the short minority carrier diffusion length constrained by the low minority carrier lifetime. Nevertheless, our recent electron beam induced current (EBIC) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements have shown that: [12] i) the grain boundary recombination velocity of kesterite is relatively high; ii) the effective minority carrier lifetime is highly likely limited by the large grain boundary recombination velocity; and iii) the recombination at near-horizontal grain boundaries in the middle of kesterite thin films is the dominating carrier loss mechanism in the quasi-neutral region, leading to significant losses in short-circuit current density (J SC ). [12,13] Furthermore, the carrier recombination at nearhorizontal grain boundaries may also deteriorate the solar cell fill factor (FF). [14] Therefore, increasing grain size and reducing the number of grain boundaries (especially the near-horizontal ones) in the CZTS absorber is imperative.Small grain size and near-horizontal grain boundaries are known to be detrimental to the carrier collection efficiency and device performance of puresulfide Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) solar cells. However, forming large grains spanning the absorber layer while maintaining high electronic quality is challenging particularly for pure sulfide CZTS. Herein, a liquid-phase-assisted grain growth (LGG) model that enables the formation of large grains spanning across the CZTS absorber without compromising the electronic quality is demonstrated. By introducing a Ge-alloyed CZTS nanoparticle layer at the bottom of the sputtered precursor, a Cu-rich and Sn-rich liquid phase forms at the high temperature sulfurization stage, which can effectively remove the detrimental near-horizontal grain boundaries and promote grain growth, thus greatly improving the carrier collection efficiency and reducing nonradiative recombination. The remaining liquid phase layer at the rear interface shows a high work function, acting as an effective hole transport layer. The modified morphology greatly increases the short-circuit current density and fill factor, enabling 10.3% efficient green Cd-free CZTS devices. This work unlocks a grain growth mechanism, advancing the morphology control of sulfide-based kesterite solar cells.

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confidence: 69%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

Yuan

Huang

et al. 2022

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Obtained values of absorption coefficients are higher than >10 4 cm −1 , which promote this material to be used as an absorbance layer for thin‐film‐based solar cells. [ 70 ] On the other hand, optical bandgap ( E g ) values have been evaluated from the empirical equation (Equation (6)) [ 79 ] using graphical plot (see Figure ) of

{( {\alpha hv} )^2}

versus photon energy

hv

\begin{equation}{\left( {\alpha hv} \right)^2} = A\left( {hv - {E_{\rm{g}}}} \right)\end{equation}

…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Cu/Sn ratio slightly decreases after the sulfurization process; this is due to the possible diffusion of Sn atoms to the surface of the thin film during the annealing process that increased its concentration and decreased the Cu/Sn ratio from 2.39 to 2.36. [68][69][70][71] On the other hand, the Cu/Sn ratio decreases in Li 0.03 CTS thin film compared to undoped CTS from 2.36 to 2.12. Similar behavior has also been observed by Chantana et al [72] when CTS thin films were doped by Na atoms.…”

Section: Composition and Morphologic Analysismentioning

confidence: 98%

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Effect of Li Doping on Cu₂SnS₃/n‐Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: Experiments and Simulation

Houimi

Gezgi̇n

Mercimek

et al. 2022

Cryst. Res. Technol.

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Cu 2 SnS 3 (CTS) semiconductor material owns very interesting absorbing properties that allow it to be effectively utilized in many thin-film-based heterojunction solar cells. In this work, using the ball milling method, a mixture of pure elemental powders is used to synthesize CTS material. Homemade undoped and Li-doped target pellets are used to form CTS-doped and CTS-undoped thin films. The crystallinity investigation of synthesized targets and thin films confirms the formation of CTS tetragonal phase. Compositional, morphologic, and optic studies are also made to examine the effect of Li atom incorporation on different properties of CTS thin films. These CTS thin films are also incorporated into heterojunction solar cells (Al/n-Si/CTS/Ag and Al/n-Si/Li 0.03 CTS/Ag). In addition, J-V characteristics of both CTS and Li 0.03 CTS solar cells are demonstrated and discussed in details. The effect of CTS thin films' thickness on the performance is studied using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) program. The results of the calculation are discussed in details and compared with the experimental results. An increase in efficiency is achieved in solar cells based on Li-doped CTS thin films, and it is discussed in detail along with SCAPS-1D simulation that is carried out depending on the thickness of CTS thin films.

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A comprehensive study on Cu2SnS3 prepared by sulfurization of Cu–Sn sputtered precursor for thin-film solar cell applications

Abdel-Latif

Magdy

Tosuke

et al. 2020

J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

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Sulfurization temperature dependent physical properties of Cu2SnS3 films grown by a two-stage process

Cited by 20 publications

References 43 publications

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

Effect of Li Doping on Cu₂SnS₃/n‐Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: Experiments and Simulation

A comprehensive study on Cu2SnS3 prepared by sulfurization of Cu–Sn sputtered precursor for thin-film solar cell applications

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Sulfurization temperature dependent physical properties of Cu2SnS3 films grown by a two-stage process

Cited by 20 publications

References 43 publications

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

Effect of Li Doping on Cu2SnS3/n‐Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: Experiments and Simulation

A comprehensive study on Cu2SnS3 prepared by sulfurization of Cu–Sn sputtered precursor for thin-film solar cell applications

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10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

10.3% Efficient Green Cd‐Free Cu₂ZnSnS₄ Solar Cells Enabled by Liquid‐Phase Promoted Grain Growth

Effect of Li Doping on Cu₂SnS₃/n‐Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: Experiments and Simulation