Effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, and absorber-layer thickness in CIGS and CZTSSe thin-film solar cells

Detailed optoelectronic simulations of thin-film photovoltaic solar cells (PVSCs) with a homogeneous photon-absorber layer made of with CIGS or CZTSSe were carried out to determine the effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, composition (i.e., bandgap energy), and absorber-layer thickness on solar-cell performance. The transfer-matrix method was used to calculate the electron-hole-pair (EHP) generation rate, and a one-dimensional drift-diffusion model was used to determine the EHP recombination rate, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, power-conversion efficiency, and fill factor. Through a comparison of limited experimental data and simulation results, we formulated expressions for the defect density in terms of the composition parameter of either CIGS or CZTSSe. All performance parameters of the thin-films PVSCs were thereby shown to be obtainable from the bulk material-response parameters of the semiconductor, with the influence of surface defects being small enough to be ignored. Furthermore, unrealistic values of the defect density (equivalently, minority carrier lifetime) will deliver unreliable predictions of the solar-cell performance. The derived expressions should guide fellow researchers in simulating the graded-bandgap and quantum-well-based PVSCs. (c) 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.JPE.13.025502]

Automated summary

In this study, optoelectronic simulations were conducted on thin-film photovoltaic solar cells (PVSCs) with a homogeneous photon-absorber layer made of CIGS or CZTSSe. The effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, composition, and absorber-layer thickness on solar-cell performance were investigated. Expressions for the defect density in terms of the composition parameter were formulated based on a comparison of experimental data and simulation results. The derived expressions provide guidance for simulating graded-bandgap and quantum-well-based PVSCs.