ZnS buffer layer for Cu2ZnSn(SSe)4 monograin layer solar cell

Nguyen, Minh Tien; Ernits, K.; Tai, Kong Fai; Ng, Charles W. W.; Pramana, Stevin S.; Sasangka, Wardhana Aji; Batabyal, Sudip Kumar; Holopainen, Timo; Meißner, D.; Neisser, A.; Wong, Lydia Helena

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2014.11.006

Cited by 104 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The application of a CBD-ZnS buffer layer was reported by Nguyen et al [153] for CZTSSe-based monograin TFSCs reaching PCEs of 4.5% for a single layer of 10-25 nm ZnS buffer, which was very close to the performance of the reference cell with single layer CdS buffer (≈4.8%). However, a similar study with CBD-ZnS for CZTSSe TFSCs showed lower PCE of 3.84% as compared to the CdS-reference device (5.25%) [154].…”

Section: Zns-based Buffer Layerssupporting

confidence: 65%

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

et al. 2019

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We review the present state-of-the-art within back and front contacts in kesterite thin film solar cells, as well as the current challenges. At the back contact, molybdenum (Mo) is generally used, and thick Mo(S, Se) 2 films of up to several hundred nanometers are seen in record devices, in particular for selenium-rich kesterite. The electrical properties of Mo(S, Se) 2 can vary strongly depending on orientation and indiffusion of elements from the device stack, and there are indications that the back contact properties are less ideal in the sulfide as compared to the selenide case. However, the electronic interface structure of this contact is generally not well-studied and thus poorly understood, and more measurements are needed for a conclusive statement. Transparent back contacts is a relatively new topic attracting attention as crucial component in bifacial and multijunction solar cells. Front illuminated efficiencies of up to 6% have so far been achieved by adding interlayers that are not always fully transparent. For the front contact, a favorable energy level alignment at the kesterite/CdS interface can be confirmed for kesterite absorbers with an intermediate [S]/([S]+[Se]) composition. This agrees with the fact that kesterite absorbers of this composition reach highest efficiencies when CdS buffer layers are employed, while alternative buffer materials with larger band gap, such as Cd 1−x Zn x S or Zn 1−x Sn x O y , result in higher efficiencies than devices with CdS buffers when sulfurrich kesterite absorbers are used. Etching of the kesterite absorber surface, and annealing in air or inert atmosphere before or after buffer layer deposition, has shown strong impact on device performance. Heterojunction annealing to promote interdiffusion was used for the highest performing sulfide kesterite device and air-annealing was reported important for selenium-rich record solar cells. Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) absorbers for solar cell applications was first reported by Ito and Nakazawa [1]. Early results on CZTS device performance were reported by Friedlmeier et al [2], Seol et al [3], and Katagiri et al [4]. Later a group at IBM reached record performances with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) above 10% for CZTSSe devices in 2010 [5] and the current record PCE of 12.6% in 2013 [6]. In 2018, researchers from DGIST reached the same performance, 12.6%, but for a larger device area [7]. The device structure used for kesterite solar cells was originally copied from that of Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 , (CIGSe) TFSCs, and is formed by sequential deposition, upon a soda lime glass substrate, of a Mo back contact, the absorber, a CdS buffer layer, and a ZnO/ZnO:Al bi-layer window (i.e. transparent top contact). This structure, schematically shown for CZTSSe in figure 1, is not necessarily ideal for kesterite solar cells, and extensive work has been invested into studies of alternative backand front contacts and related deposition processes. In this paper, the state-of-the-art and current open questions related to the back and front c...

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Section: Zns-based Buffer Layerssupporting

confidence: 65%

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

et al. 2019

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“…The base parameters for the CIGS cell structure with CdS buffer used for the simulation are shown in Table 1 [1,3,4,11,16,17]. The most important parameters of different buffer layer materials needed for the simulations are depicted in Table 2 [4,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Toxic Buffer Layers in Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂Photovoltaic Cell Applications with Optimized Absorber Thickness

Asaduzzaman

Hosen

Ali

et al. 2017

International Journal of Photoenergy

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Absorber layer thickness gradient in Cu(In 1−x Ga x )Se 2 (CIGS) based solar cells and several substitutes for typical cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer layers, such as ZnS, ZnO, ZnS(O,OH), Zn 1−x Sn x O y (ZTO), ZnSe, and In 2 S 3 , have been analyzed by a device emulation program and tool (ADEPT 2.1) to determine optimum efficiency. As a reference type, the CIGS cell with CdS buffer provides a theoretical efficiency of 23.23% when the optimum absorber layer thickness was determined as 1.6 μm. It is also observed that this highly efficient CIGS cell would have an absorber layer thickness between 1 μm and 2 μm whereas the optimum buffer layer thickness would be within the range of 0.04-0.06 μm. Among all the cells with various buffer layers, the best energy conversion efficiency of 24.62% has been achieved for the ZnO buffer layer based cell. The simulation results with ZnS and ZnO based buffer layer materials instead of using CdS indicate that the cell performance would be better than that of the CdS buffer layer based cell. Although the cells with ZnS(O,OH), ZTO, ZnSe, and In 2 S 3 buffer layers provide slightly lower efficiencies than that of the CdS buffer based cell, the use of these materials would not be deleterious for the environment because of their non-carcinogenic and non-toxic nature.

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“…Different band gaps have been reported for the two polymorphs, 3.77 eV for WZ and 3.68 eV for ZB . ZnS has been successfully used as an n‐type buffer layer material in Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 solar cells, which motivates the material choice for this work.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial In Situ Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation of Sb₂Se₃/ZnS Heterointerfaces

Siol

Schulz

Young

et al. 2016

Adv Materials Inter

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Combinatorial techniques can be utilized to accelerate in situ interface studies. This is demonstrated by investigating the prototypical Sb2Se3/ZnS heterojunction. Film thickness gradients on the substrate are used to minimize the required number of depositions and transfers. Other synthesis parameters such as the substrate temperature or film composition can be systematically covaried with thickness to cover several individual interface experiments on one substrate.

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ZnS buffer layer for Cu2ZnSn(SSe)4 monograin layer solar cell

Cited by 104 publications

References 17 publications

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

Non-Toxic Buffer Layers in Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂Photovoltaic Cell Applications with Optimized Absorber Thickness

Combinatorial In Situ Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation of Sb₂Se₃/ZnS Heterointerfaces

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ZnS buffer layer for Cu2ZnSn(SSe)4 monograin layer solar cell

Cited by 104 publications

References 17 publications

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions

Non-Toxic Buffer Layers in Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se2Photovoltaic Cell Applications with Optimized Absorber Thickness

Combinatorial In Situ Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation of Sb2Se3/ZnS Heterointerfaces

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Non-Toxic Buffer Layers in Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se₂Photovoltaic Cell Applications with Optimized Absorber Thickness

Combinatorial In Situ Photoelectron Spectroscopy Investigation of Sb₂Se₃/ZnS Heterointerfaces