Enhancing Ag-alloyed Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cell performance by interfacial modification via In and Al

Abstract

Ag-alloyed Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 kesterite semiconductors have recently been attracting considerable attention recently because doping with Ag can suppress the CuZn related anti-site defects, which is the main factor that limits the...

Ag, Ti dual-cation substitution in Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 induced growth promotion and defect suppression for high-efficiency solar cells

“…For the kesterite structured CZTSSe system, the main reasons accounting for the severe V OC decit (V OC,def ) include the band tail states generated by the high concentration of deep-level defects and defect clusters 4,6 (e.g., Cu Zn , Cu Sn , and [2Cu Zn + Sn Zn ]), the formation of secondary phases 7,8 (e.g., CuS, SnS 2 and ZnS) during the crystal growth process, and the mismatching energy band alignments between various functional layers. [9][10][11] Several approaches have been attempted to mitigate these issues, including cationic substitution, 12,13 grain growth optimization, [14][15][16] heterojunction post-annealing, 17 graded bandgap engineering, 18 and so on.…”

“…, CuS, SnS 2 and ZnS) during the crystal growth process, and the mismatching energy band alignments between various functional layers. 9–11 Several approaches have been attempted to mitigate these issues, including cationic substitution, 12,13 grain growth optimization, 14–16 heterojunction post-annealing, 17 graded bandgap engineering, 18 and so on.…”

Over 10% Efficient Cu2CdSnS4 Solar Cells Fabricated from Optimized Sulfurization

“…However, CZTS generates an evident shift (≈100 meV) and large width of the PL peak, which can be attributed to band tailing arising from fluctuations of bandgap or electrostatic potential. [ 9 ] Therefore, relatively large elements, such as Ag, [ 11–15 ] Cd [ 4,16,17 ] (or Ba and Sr [ 18 ] ), and Ge [ 19 ] can be used to replace Cu, Zn, and Sn, respectively, in the lattice to suppress the band tailing caused by cationic disorder in CZTS. Consequently, Cu 2 CdSnS 4 (CCTS) has drawn considerable attention because of its distinctive structure and performance: a) The ionic radius of Cd 2+ (≈151 pm) is larger than that of Cu 2+ (≈128 pm) and Zn 2+ (≈134 pm).…”

Exploring the Effect of Selenidation Time on the Ni-Doped Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cell

“…Because of its low reserves and rising prices year by year, the cost of CIGS solar cells has greatly increased, severely limiting their large-scale application in practice. Therefore, the third-generation Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) thin-film photovoltaic material with kesterite structure has become the best substitute for CIGS thin film due to its non-toxic, low preparation cost, good stability, and high absorption coefficient [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. At the same time, the structure of CZTSSe thin film solar cells has borrowed from the commercial CIGS thin film solar cells [ 6 ].…”