Journal ArticleDOI
Investigation of blister formation in sputtered Cu2ZnSnS4 absorbers for thin film solar cells
TLDR
In this paper, it is shown that argon is trapped in the film during sputtering and migrates to locally form blisters during the high temperature annealing, which is detrimental for thin-film solar cell fabrication.Abstract:
Blister formation in Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films sputtered from a quaternary compound target is investigated. While the thin film structure, composition, and substrate material are not correlated to the blister formation, a strong link between sputtering gas entrapment, in this case argon, and blistering effect is found. It is shown that argon is trapped in the film during sputtering and migrates to locally form blisters during the high temperature annealing. Blister formation in CZTS absorbers is detrimental for thin film solar cell fabrication causing partial peeling of the absorber layer and potential shunt paths in the complete device. Reduced sputtering gas entrapment, and blister formation, is seen for higher sputtering pressure, higher substrate temperature, and change of sputtering gas to larger atoms. This is all in accordance with previous publications on blister formation caused by sputtering gas entrapment in other materials.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Critical review on sputter-deposited Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) based thin film photovoltaic technology focusing on device architecture and absorber quality on the solar cells performance
Siarhei Zhuk,Siarhei Zhuk,Ajay Kushwaha,Ajay Kushwaha,Terence Kin Shun Wong,Saeid Masudy-Panah,A. Smirnov,Goutam Kumar Dalapati +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the advantages and challenges associated with sputter-deposited CZTS solar cells, since sputtering is an industry compatible and relatively low-cost vacuum deposition technique, are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Back and front contacts in kesterite solar cells: state-of-the-art and open questions
Charlotte Platzer-Björkman,Nicolas Barreau,Marcus Bär,Léo Choubrac,Louis Grenet,Jaeyeong Heo,Tomas Kubart,Alberto Mittiga,Yudania Sánchez,Jonathan J. Scragg,Soumyadeep Sinha,M. Valentini +11 more
Journal ArticleDOI
Persistent Double-Layer Formation in Kesterite Solar Cells: A Critical Review
Filipe Mesquita Alves Martinho,Simón López-Marino,Moises Espindola-Rodriguez,Alireza Hajijafarassar,Fredrik Stulen,Sigbjørn Grini,Max Döbeli,Mungunshagai Gansukh,Sara Lena Josefin Engberg,Eugen Stamate,Lasse Vines,Jørgen Schou,Ole Hansen,Stela Canulescu +13 more
TL;DR: Although the double layer occurrence largely depends on the kesterite synthesis route, the common factors determining the double-layer occurrence appear to be the presence of metallic Cu and/or a chalcogen deficiency in the precursor matrix.
Journal ArticleDOI
Growth and characterization of dual ion beam sputtered Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 thin films for cost-effective photovoltaic application
Brajendra S. Sengar,Vivek Garg,Vishnu Awasthi,Aaryashree,Shailendra Kumar,C. Mukherjee,Mukul Gupta,Shaibal Mukherjee +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, a growth optimization of CZTSSe thin films by dual ion beam sputtering system from a single target target is presented, and it is observed that the ratio of Cu/(Zn+Sn) varies from 0.86 to 1.5 and that of (S+Se)/metal varies between 0.62 and 0.97 when substrate temperature (T sub ) is increased from 100 to 500°C.
Journal ArticleDOI
Photovoltaic behavior of the room temperature grown RF-Sputtered SnS thin films
TL;DR: In this article, the structural, optical, and photovoltaic properties were investigated by varying the argon pressure (PAr) from 6 to 50 mTorr, and the as-grown samples showed the single phase of orthorhombic SnS with the stoichiometric ratio.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Powering the planet: Chemical challenges in solar energy utilization
Nathan S. Lewis,Daniel G. Nocera +1 more
TL;DR: Solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year, and if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user.
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Device Characteristics of CZTSSe Thin‐Film Solar Cells with 12.6% Efficiency
Journal ArticleDOI
Study of polycrystalline Cu2ZnSnS4 films by Raman scattering
TL;DR: In this article, the results of the characterization by XRD, electron backscatter diffraction and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy techniques are presented for the CZTS phase.
Journal ArticleDOI
Growth and Raman scattering characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films
TL;DR: In this article, the growth, morphological and structural characterization of CZTS thin films prepared by sulfurization of DC magnetron sputtered Cu/Zn/Sn precursor layers were reported.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Consequences of Kesterite Equilibria for Efficient Solar Cells
TL;DR: It is shown that understanding the formation reaction of the kesterite absorber is the key to control the growth process and to drastically improve the solar cell efficiency and it is demonstrated that this knowledge can be used to simplify the four-dimensional parameter space to an easy and robust two-dimensional process.