Ultra-thin Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 solar cell by pulsed laser deposition

Wednesday 22 Mar 17
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We report on the fabrication of a 5.2% efficiency Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cell made by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) featuring an ultra-thin absorber layer (less than 450 nm). Solutions to the issues of reproducibility and micro-particulate ejection often encountered with PLD are proposed. At the optimal laser fluence, amorphous CZTS precursors with optimal stoichiometry for solar cells are deposited from a single target.

Such precursors do not result in detectable segregation of secondary phases after the subsequent annealing step. In the analysis of the solar cell device, we focus on the effects of the finite thickness of the absorber layer. Depletion region width, carrier diffusion length, and optical losses due to incomplete light absorption and back contact reflection are quantified. We conclude that material- and junction quality is comparable to that of thicker state-of-the-art CZTS devices, even though the efficiency is lower due to optical losses.

Andrea Cazzaniga, Andrea Crovetto, Chang Yan, Kaiwen Sun, Xiaojing Hao, Joan Ramis Estelrich, Stela Canulescu, Eugen Stamate, Nini Pryds, Ole Hansen and Jørgen Schou

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 166
DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2017.03.002

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