Thermal evaporation and characterization of superstrate CdS/Sb2Se3 solar cells

Abstract

Sb2Se3 is a very promising absorber material for thin film photovoltaics because of its ideal band gap, strong optical absorption, and non-toxic and earth-abundant constituents. However, only until this year Sb2Se3 solar cell was reported. Here, we present the fabrication and characterization of thermally evaporated superstrate CdS/Sb2Se3 solar cell. Our device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 1.9% (Voc = 300 mV, Jsc = 13.2 mA/cm2, and FF = 48%) and showed good stability. Moreover, using current-voltage measurement, admittance spectroscopy, capacitance-voltage profiling, and drive level capacitance profiling, device characteristics and performance limiting factors are revealed and discussed.

Thin-film Sb2Se3 photovoltaics with oriented one-dimensional ribbons and benign grain boundaries

“…Device efficiency (Fig. 5d) increased about 0.3 power points (from 5.32% to 5.66%) when stored in air ambient for up to 45 days without encapsulation, in good agreement with our previous report of thermally evaporated Sb2Se3 solar cells 19,29 . Damp-heat testing (85℃ and 85% humidity, no encapsulation) of the same device showed a slightly reduced device performance, from an initial 5.67% efficiency to 5.39% after 10 h testing and to 5.16% after 100 h testing.…”

“…It has a very strong absorption coefficient (>10 5 cm -1 at short wavelengths) and its bandgap is ~1.1 eV 17,18 , optimal for single-junction solar cells. The constituents of Sb2Se3 are non-toxic and low in cost (Sb has similar cost to Cu), and, as we proceed to show herein, Sb2Se3 films are produced using minimal energy, enabling in principle a low energy-payback time for a solar cell 19 . All of these considerations motivated further study of oriented Sb2Se3 films and devices herein.…”

Sb2Se3 Thin‐Film Photovoltaics Using Aqueous Solution Sprayed SnO2 as the Buffer Layer

“…C-f profile is a useful measurement to detect the defects density. [18] As seen in Figure 5b, the declining quantities at low frequency, which are proportional to defect density, from small to large were SnO 2 -480, SnO 2 -530, SnO 2 -430, and SnO 2 -380. Generally, capacitance response generated in C-V measurements correspond to the free carriers, and bulk and interfacial defects.…”

“…Therefore, by comparing the difference between N C-V (defect density calculated from C-V measurement) and N DLCP (defect density calculated from DLCP measurement) one can estimate interfacial defect density. [18,19] Hence, we can distinguish the defect density at the SnO 2 /Sb 2 Se 3 interface by comparing the difference between N C-V (defect density calculated from C-V measurement) and N DLCP (defect density calculated from DLCP measurement). As shown in Figure 5c-e, the device with SnO 2 annealed at 480 °C possesses almost overlapped N C-V and N DLCP curves meaning the lowest interfacial defects density among the four devices.…”

A comparative study on the electronic and optical properties of Sb-=SUB=-2-=/SUB=-Se-=SUB=-3-=/SUB=- thin film

“…• C under 30 min annealing condition [12,15,16]. It is also reported that the device performance is better for the film deposited at substrate temperature of 300…”