The impact of energy alignment and interfacial recombination on the internal and external open-circuit voltage of perovskite solar cells†

in Energy and Environmental Science (2019)

Identifying the Real Minority Carrier Lifetime in Nonideal Semiconductors: A Case Study of Kesterite Materials

in Advanced Energy Materials (2017)

Investigation of the SnS/Cu2ZnSnS4 Interfaces in Kesterite Thin-Film Solar Cells

in ACS ENERGY LETTERS (2017), 2(5), 976-981

Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), having only earth abundant elements, is a promising solar cell material. Nevertheless, the impact of the SnS secondary phase, which often forms alongside CZTS synthesis at high ... [more ▼]

Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), having only earth abundant elements, is a promising solar cell material. Nevertheless, the impact of the SnS secondary phase, which often forms alongside CZTS synthesis at high annealing temperature, on CZTS solar cells is poorly studied. We confirm, by means of X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping, that this phase tends to segregate at both the surface and the back side of annealed CZTS films with Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition. Using electron beam-induced current measurements, it is further demonstrated that the formation of SnS on the CZTS surface is harmful for solar cells, whereas the SnS phase can be beneficial for solar cells when it segregates on the CZTS rear. This positive contribution of SnS could stem from a passivation effect at the CZTS/SnS rear interface. This work opens new possibilities for an alternative interface development for kesterite-based photovoltaic technology. [less ▲]

Intragrain charge transport in kesterite thin films-Limits arising from carrier localization

in JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS (2016), 120(17),

Intragrain charge carrier mobilities measured by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy in state of the art Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)(4) kesterite thin films are found to increase from 32 to 140 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) with ... [more ▼]

Intragrain charge carrier mobilities measured by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy in state of the art Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)(4) kesterite thin films are found to increase from 32 to 140 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) with increasing Se content. The mobilities are limited by carrier localization on the nanometer-scale, which takes place within the first 2 ps after carrier excitation. The localization strength obtained from the Drude-Smith model is found to be independent of the excited photocarrier density. This is in accordance with bandgap fluctuations as a cause of the localized transport. Charge carrier localization is a general issue in the probed kesterite thin films, which were deposited by co-evaporation colloidal inks, and sputtering followed by annealing with varying Se/S contents and yield 4.9\%-10.0 efficiency in the completed device. (C) 2016 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). [less ▲]

Optical methodology for process monitoring of chalcopyrite photovoltaic technologies: Application to low cost Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 electrodeposition based processes

in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (2016)

Non-destructive characterization of both single layers and completed devices are important issues for the development of efficient and low cost Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGS) modules at high yields. This implies ... [more ▼]

Non-destructive characterization of both single layers and completed devices are important issues for the development of efficient and low cost Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGS) modules at high yields. This implies for the need of methodologies suitable for the assessment of optical, electrical, and physico-chemical parameters that are relevant for the final device efficiency and that can be used for quality control and process monitoring at different process steps. In these applications, detection of in-homogeneities in the different layers from large area modules is especially relevant, being the presence of these inhomogeneities responsible for the existing gap between the efficiencies achieved in these technologies at cell and module levels. In this context, this work reviews the different optical methodologies that have been developed in the framework of the SCALENANO European project for the advanced assessment of the different layers in high efficiency electrodeposited – based CIGS devices. This has includes different strategies as those based on Raman scattering, Photoluminescence/Electroluminescence (PL/EL) based techniques and new photoelectrochemical based tools and firstly Raman spectroscopy is very sensitive to both composition and crystal quality parameters that are determining for device efficiency. Use of resonant Raman excitation strategies allows achieving a high sensitivity of the Raman spectra to the analysed features in the different regions of the device. This involves selection of the suitable excitation wavelength (in the broad spectral region from UV to IR) for the resonant Raman excitation of the required layer in the device. The strong increase in the intensity of the Raman peaks related to the use of resonant excitation conditions allows also decreasing the measuring time to times compatible with the implementation of these techniques at online process monitoring level. Analysed parameters include the electrical conductivity of the Al-doped ZnO window layer, the thickness of the CdS buffer layer and the chemical composition (S/(S+Se) relative content) and presence of relevant secondary phases as Cu-poor ordered vacancy compounds in the surface region of the absorbers. In addition PL/EL imaging are powerful techniques that provide direct access to the optoelectronic properties of the materials and devices. Whereas EL is performed using complete devices by injecting current in analogy to the operation of a light emitting diode, PL allows the characterization of bare absorber materials without the need for any functional or contacting layers. Moreover, semiconductor photo-electrochemistry (PEC) is a versatile technique that enables many opto-electronic properties of semiconductors to be determined. Essentially, a semiconductor on a conducting substrate placed in a solution containing redox species forms a Schottky barrier junction. The formation of such a diode enables basic semiconductor properties to be measured such as doping type, doping density, band gap and the flat band position versus the vacuum energy scale. In all these cases, quality control indicators suitable for the advanced assessment of these processes have been identified and validated for the electrodeposition-based processes developed at Nexcis Company. [less ▲]