Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Van Ben Chu, Daniel Siopa, Alice Debot, Damilola Adeleye, Mohit Sood, Alberto Lomuscio, Michele Melchiorre, Jerome Guillot, Nathalie Valle, Brahime El Adib, Jonathan Rommelfangen, Phillip J. Dale
Summary: Chemical bath methods for growing thin film semiconductors produce a lot of waste solvent and chemicals. This study successfully replaced the toxic chemical bath deposited CdS buffer layer with a benign inkjet-printed and annealed Zn(O,S) layer, greatly reducing solvent and chemical usage. The wetting and final performance of the Zn(O,S) layer on CIGS can be controlled by various factors, with the best device efficiency reaching 13.5% through optimization.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yuxian Li, Daming Zhuang, Ming Zhao, Chen Wang, Hao Tong, Liangzheng Dong, Shengye Tao, Hanpeng Wang
Summary: We developed a novel process for fabricating oxygen-rich Zn(O,S) buffer layers suitable for industrial production. By precisely controlling the composition of Zn(O,S), we investigated its effects on film quality, p-n junction properties, and CIGSSe solar cell performance. We observed that the appropriate content of ZnSO4 and ZnSO3 secondary phases improved the band alignment of oxygen-rich Zn(O,S). By establishing a crucial correlation between device performance and interfacial properties, we found that the band alignment matching at the heterojunction plays a primary role in CIGSSe device performance. An excellent oxygen-rich Zn(O,S) buffer can be obtained with 10% Zn(O,S) deposition oxygen partial pressure.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jakapan Chantana, Yu Kawano, Abdurashid Mavlonov, Takashi Minemoto
Summary: Flexible, lightweight, and Cd-free CIGSSe solar cells on stainless steel substrates were fabricated using special buffer and TCO layers. By optimizing the material composition, the photovoltaic performances of the devices can be improved, and carrier recombination can be effectively reduced.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Dirk Hauschild, Mary Blankenship, Amandee Hua, Ralph Steininger, Patrick Eraerds, Thomas Niesen, Thomas Dalibor, Wanli Yang, Clemens Heske, Lothar Weinhardt
Summary: The chemical and electronic structure of the interface between a sputter-deposited Zn(O,S) buffer layer and an industrial Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)(2) (CIGSSe) absorber for thin-film solar cells was investigated using various spectroscopic techniques. It was found that the CIGSSe absorber surface band gap significantly increased compared to bulk-sensitive methods. The measurements also showed the presence of S-Zn and S-O bonds in the Zn(O,S) layer, and an enhanced carrier separation at the interface.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Haoran Li, Jiao Wang, Yanping Wang, Aimei Zhao, Bing Li, Wei Li
Summary: In this work, the deposition time of CBD-Zn(O,S) films was shortened by adding sodium nitrilotriacetate (Na3NTA) to the solution, resulting in high-quality films suitable as buffer layers for solar cells.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Akram Abdalla, Mati Danilson, Valdek Mikli, Sergei Bereznev
Summary: Ternary Zn(O,Se) films were grown using pulsed laser deposition, and their optical properties and energy band structure were investigated. The findings suggest that adjusting the conduction band alignment can reduce the barriers in solar cell structures.
MATERIALS SCIENCE IN SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Wenwei Lin, Wen-Ti Guo, Liquan Yao, Jianmin Li, Limei Lin, Jian-Min Zhang, Shuiyuan Chen, Guilin Chen
Summary: Hydrothermal deposition is considered a promising method for antimony-based solar cells, with TiO2 evaluated as a potential Cd-free buffer layer, and Zn(O,S) effectively addressing the issue of inhomogeneous Sb2S3 coverage. The Zn(O,S)/Sb2S3 junction exhibits more stable structure and enhances the efficiency of the device compared to TiO2/Sb2S3.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Khalil El Hajraoui, Diego Colombara, Jose Virtuoso, Rolf Waechter, Francis Leonard Deepak, Sascha Sadewasser
Summary: After annealing at 200 degrees C, interdiffusion or island formation at the absorber/buffer interface was excluded using high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Iman Gharibshahian, Ali A. Orouji, Samaneh Sharbati
Summary: The goal of this study is to improve the efficiency of Sb2Se3 solar cells through two approaches: adding sulfur to the absorber layer and using an alternative buffer layer with a wider bandgap. The research findings demonstrate that the efficiency can be increased from 9.2% to 15.65% by optimizing the band alignment at the interface.
Article
Electrochemistry
Haruka Shimizu, Junji Sasano, Pei Loon Khoo, Masanobu Izaki
Summary: A metallic Cu layer with a sheet resistance of 0.19 omega was chemically prepared on a glass substrate, and the reduction reactions of Cu(OH)(2) and Cu(O, S) were discussed based on thermodynamics.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhongyuan Guan, Haihang Ye, Peiwen Lv, Lijin Wang, Jing Zhang, Bin Zou, Aiwei Tang
Summary: The growth of multinary Cu-based chalcogenide nanocrystals involves the presence of copper vacancies affecting exciton recombination, the high reaction activity of selenium leading to red-shift in photoluminescence maximum, and the competitive relationship between growth and diffusion of zinc resulting in red- or blue-shift in photoluminescence maximum.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qian Li, Jinpeng Hu, Yaru Cui, Juan Wang, Yu Hao, Tong Shen, Lizhen Duan
Summary: By synthesizing the copper-zinc-tin oxide (CZTO) precursor, fabricating CZTS thin film, and selenizing it, Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)(4) (CZTSSe) thin films with smooth surfaces and no pinholes were successfully obtained, with a conversion efficiency of 4.11%.
FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Balaji Mohan, Kyung Hee Oh, Kyeongmun Park, Mohammad Yusuf, Ji Chan Park, Kang Hyun Park, Buhyun Youn
Summary: In this study, hollow cubic Cu(x)O nanoparticles (approx. 23 nm) incorporated with CNF (HC-Cu(x)O/CNF) were fabricated by the controlled thermal oxidation of solid cubic Cu2O nanoparticles (approx. 21 nm) supported on carbon nanofibers (SC-Cu2O/CNF) under airflow. These hollow Cu(x)O nanocubes with increased surface areas exhibited excellent catalytic activity for unsymmetrical chalcogenide synthesis under ligand-free conditions. The synthesis process involved the transformation of solid Cu(2)O cubes/CNF to hollow Cu(x)O cubes/CNF through thermal oxidation, utilizing the Kirkendall effect.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
M. S. Bahrudin, A. Z. Arsad, S. F. Abdullah, N. Azman, C. F. Chau, I. Ahmad, W. S. W. Adini, A. W. Mahmood Zuhdi, W. S. Wan Abdullah
Summary: In this paper, a method of incorporating sulfur on the ZnO film surface is proposed to alter its properties effectively. The sulfurization process forms a ZnS cubic crystal structure in the ZnO film, with increasing ZnS peak as the sulfur weight increases. This approach may facilitate the production of Zn(O,S) film and serve as an alternative buffer layer for CIGS solar cell structure.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shuaiqi Han, Jingjing Jiang, Xinge Liu, Bingyan Li, Kangjie Zhang, Shasha Hao, Shaotang Yu, Weibo Yan, Hao Xin
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of a chemical-bath-deposited zinc sulfoxide buffer layer in solution-processed copper indium gallium selenide solar cells. By optimizing the deposition time and annealing process, a dense and uniform zinc sulfoxide buffer layer was achieved. The resulting solar cells showed a high power conversion efficiency of 12.0%.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
