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Recovery Mechanisms in Aged Kesterite Solar Cells.

Authors :: Campbell S
Duchamp M
Ford B
Jones M
Nguyen LL
Naylor MC
Xu X
Maiello P
Zoppi G
Barrioz V
Beattie NS
Qu Y
Source :: ACS applied energy materials [ACS Appl Energy Mater] 2022 May 23; Vol. 5 (5), pp. 5404-5414. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Mar 08.
Publication Year :: 2022
Abstract: For successful long-term deployment and operation of kesterites Cu <subscript>2</subscript> ZnSn(S <subscript> x </subscript> Se <subscript>1- x </subscript> ) <subscript>4</subscript> (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.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.<br /> (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)