• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• 제9권3호
• /
• pp.84-95
• /
• 2021

The power conversion efficiency of Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ (CZTSe) solar cells depends on the absorber layer thickness; however, changes in the characteristics of the cells with varying absorber layer thickness are unclear. In this study, we investigated the changes in the characteristics of CZTSe solar cells for varying absorber layer thickness. Five absorber thicknesses were employed: CZTSe1 2.78 ㎛, CZTSe2 1.01 ㎛, CZTSe3 0.55 ㎛, CZTSe4 0.29 ㎛, and CZTSe5 0.15-0.23 ㎛. The efficiency of the CZTSe solar cells decreased as the absorber thickness decreased, resulting in power conversion efficiencies of 10.45% (CZTSe1), 8.67% (CZTSe2), 7.14% (CZTSe3), 3.44% (CZTSe4), and 1.54% (CZTSe5). As the thickness of the CZTSe absorber layer decreased, the electron-hole recombination at the grain boundaries and the absorber-back-contact interface increased. This caused an increase in the current loss, owing to light loss in the long-wavelength region. In addition, as the thickness of the CZTSe absorber layer decreased, more ZnSe was produced, and the resulting defects and defect clusters led to an open-circuit voltage loss.

• 한국재료학회지
• /
• 제31권11호
• /
• pp.619-625
• /
• 2021

Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) based thin-film solar cells have attracted growing attention because of their earth-abundant and non-toxic elements. However, because of their large open-circuit voltage (V_oc)-deficit, CZTSSe solar cells exhibit poor device performance compared to well-established Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)₂ (CIGS) and CdTe based solar cells. One of the main causes of this large V_oc-deficit is poor absorber properties for example, high band tailing properties, defects, secondary phases, carrier recombination, etc. In particular, the fabrication of absorbers using physical methods results in poor surface morphology, such as pin-holes and voids. To overcome this problem and form large and homogeneous CZTSSe grains, CZTSSe based absorber layers are prepared by a sputtering technique with different RTA conditions. The temperature is varied from 510 ℃ to 540 ℃ during the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. Further, CZTSSe thin films are examined with X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, IPCE, Energy dispersive spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy techniques. The present work shows that Cu-based secondary phase formation can be suppressed in the CZTSSe absorber layer at an optimum RTA condition.