Influence/Effect of Deep-Level Defect of Absorber Layer and n/i Interface on the Performance of Antimony Triselenide Solar Cells by Numerical Simulation

Abstract

The antimony sulphide (AnS) solar cell is a relatively new photovoltaic technology. Because of its attractive material, optical, and electrical qualities, Sb2Se3 is an excellent absorption layer in solar cells, with a conversion efficiency of less than 8%. The purpose of this research is to determine the best parameter for increasing solar cell efficiency. This research focused on the influence of absorber layer defect density and the n/i interface on the performance of antimony trisulfide solar cells. The researchers designed the absorber thickness values with the help of the SCAPS-1D (Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator-1D) simulation programme. For this purpose, they designed the ZnS/Sb2Se3/PEDOT: PSS planar p-i-n structure, and then simulated its performance. This result confirms a Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of ≥25% at an absorber layer thickness of >300 nm and a defect density of 1014 cm−3, which were within the acceptable range. In this experiment, the researchers hypothesised that the antimony triselenide conduction band possessed a typical energy of ≈0.1 eV and an energetic defect level of ≈0.6 eV. At the n/i interface, every condition generated a similar result. However, the researchers noted a few limitations regarding the relationship between the defect mechanism and the device performance.

Investigating the Impact of Interfacial Layers on Device Performance of Highly Stable Cs2InBiBr6 Based Double Perovskite Solar Cells

“…The Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) recombination is often used to explain the influence of defect density on performance. [ 26,27 ] It can be expressed as $$$$\begin{equation}{R}^{SRH} = \frac{{\vartheta {\sigma }_n{\sigma }_p{N}_T\left( {np - n_i^2} \right)}}{{{\sigma }_p\left( {p + {p}_1} \right) + {\sigma }_n\left( {n + {n}_1} \right)}}\end{equation}$$$$where ϑ is electron thermal velocity; $${\sigma }_{n}$$ and $${\sigma }_p$$ are capture cross‐sections for electrons and holes; $${N}_T$$ is defect density; n and p are the concentration of electrons and holes at equilibrium; $${n}_{i}$$ is intrinsic number density; n 1 and p 1 are the concentration of electrons and holes in trap defect and valance band.…”

Numerical Simulation of the Performance of Sb2Se3 Solar Cell via Optimizing the Optoelectronic Properties Based SCAPS-1D

“…Various researchers have used different techniques to enhance the ZnO semiconductor characteristics, and subsequently the PSCs' photovoltaic performance via doping and designing ZnO by employing other metal oxides or elements [28]. Even though these experiments were conducted, it was challenging for the researchers to enhance ZnO-based PSCs.…”

“…ZnS was found to be similar with that of a ZnO wide bandgap semiconductor and it also showed comparable physical characteristics. With regards to quantum-dot-sensitised solar cells, ZnS showed outstanding electron mobility and was also seen to function similar to ETL and the interfacial passivation layer [28]. ZnS is associated with a low conduction band minimum (CBM) versus ZnO, making it a better match for MAPbI 3 -LUMO [28].…”

“…With regards to quantum-dot-sensitised solar cells, ZnS showed outstanding electron mobility and was also seen to function similar to ETL and the interfacial passivation layer [28]. ZnS is associated with a low conduction band minimum (CBM) versus ZnO, making it a better match for MAPbI 3 -LUMO [28]. However, PSCs' photovoltaic performance still needs more improvement by employing ZnS or ZnO in order to facilitate the transportation of electrons to ZnO from MAPbI 3 [29],…”

Investigating the effect of non-ideal conditions on the performance of a planar CH3NH3PbI3-based perovskite solar cell through SCAPS-1D simulation

“…Furthermore, the data is more accessible for the mentioned layers [ 7 ]. However, the other candidates for the layers are feasible [ 26 , 27 ], but due to the main objective of this study to highlight the non-ideal conditions, we selected the mentioned materials.…”