Recovery Mechanisms in Aged Kesterite Solar Cells

For successful long-term deployment and operation of kesterites Cu2ZnSn­(S x Se1–x )4 (CZTSSe) as light-absorber materials for photovoltaics, device stability and recovery in kesterite solar cells are investigated. A low-temperature heat treatment is applied to overcome the poor charge extraction th...

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Published in:ACS applied energy materials 2022-05, Vol.5 (5), p.5404-5414
Main Authors: Campbell, Stephen, Duchamp, Martial, Ford, Bethan, Jones, Michael, Nguyen, Linh Lan, Naylor, Matthew C., Xu, Xinya, Maiello, Pietro, Zoppi, Guillaume, Barrioz, Vincent, Beattie, Neil S., Qu, Yongtao
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Language:English
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Summary:For successful long-term deployment and operation of kesterites Cu2ZnSn­(S x Se1–x )4 (CZTSSe) as light-absorber materials for photovoltaics, device stability and recovery in kesterite solar cells are investigated. A low-temperature heat treatment is applied to overcome the poor charge extraction that developed in the natural aging process. It is suggested that defect states at aged CZTSSe/CdS heterojunctions were reduced, while apparent doping density in the CZTSSe absorber increased due to Cd/Zn interdiffusion at the heterojunction during the annealing process. In situ annealing experiments in a transmission electron microscope were used to investigate the elemental diffusion at the CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction. This study reveals the critical role of heat treatment to enhance the absorber/Mo back contact, improve the quality of the absorber/buffer heterojunction, and recover the device performance in aged kesterite thin-film solar cells.
ISSN:2574-0962
2574-0962
DOI:10.1021/acsaem.1c03247