Doping Strategies in Sb₂S₃ Thin Films for Solar Cells

Abstract

Sb2S3 is an attractive solar absorber material that has garnered tremendous interest because of its fascinating properties for solar cells including suitable band gap, high absorption coefficient, earth abundance, and excellent stability. Over the past several years, intensive efforts have been made to enhance the photovoltaic efficiencies of Sb2S3 solar cells using many promising approaches including interfacial engineering, surface passivation, additive engineering, and band‐gap engineering of the charge transport layers and active light absorbing Sb2S3 materials. Recently, doping strategies in Sb2S3 light absorbers have gained attention as they promise to play important roles in controlling band gap, regulating film morphology, and passivating grain boundaries, and thus resulting in enhanced carrier transport, which is one of the most challenging issues in this cutting‐edge research field. In this review, after a brief introduction to Sb2S3, an overview of Sb2S3 solar cells and their fundamental properties are provided. Recent advances in doping strategies in Sb2S3 thin films and solar cells are then discussed to provide in‐depth understanding of the effects of various dopants on the photovoltaic properties of Sb2S3 materials. In conclusion, the personal perspectives and outlook to the future development of Sb2S3 solar cells are provided.

Flexible Substrate‐Structured Sb2S3 Solar Cells with Back Interface Selenization

“…Although we have obtained the best absorber thickness, the PCE of the device is still affected by the contact barrier and back interface recombination. [ 39 ]…”

Exfoliated 2D Antimonene‐Based Structures for Light‐Harvesting Photoactive Layer of Highly Stable Solar Cells

“…Widespread commercialization of solar technologies will only be possible if the issues associated with the stability and reliability of novel types of solar cells are solved. [ 41 ] As such, testing operational stabilities of solar cells under various conditions is the key to the development of the new technologies. One of the critical tests for solar cells is the examination of the hysteresis effect observed in the J–V curves when scanning in reverse and forward directions.…”

Spiers Memorial Lecture: Next generation chalcogenide-based absorbers for thin-film solar cells

“…26 Another limitation relates to the recombination at the TiO 2 /Sb 2 S 3 interface and within the bulk absorber, arising from sulfur vacancies, oxidation products/defects at the absorber surface and introduced impurity atoms. 31 A recent study has used deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) to assign three types of deep level defects, depending on the detailed Sb 2 S 3 lm preparation conditions and composition: an Sb-rich lm displays two types of crucial defects, i.e., V S and Sb S , while the S-rich Sb 2 S 3 lm shows only one kind of critical defect, V Sb . 32 The Sb interstitial, Sb i , defect (especially for Sb-rich lms) is found to have less signicant impact on minority carrier lifetime, presumably due to the exibility in the structure afforded by the 1D ribbons.…”