TY - JOUR
T1 - Band alignment in partial and complete ZnO/ZnS/CdS/CuSCN extremely thin absorber cells
T2 - An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study
AU - Edri, Eran
AU - Cohen, Hagai
AU - Hodes, Gary
N1 - Sidney E. Frank Foundation through Israel Science Foundation [1522/11]; Israel Ministry of Science; Fundacion ChileE.E. is grateful to Nir Klein-Kedem for fruitful discussions. This research was supported by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation through the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1522/11), the Israel Ministry of Science, and Fundacion Chile.
PY - 2013/6/12
Y1 - 2013/6/12
N2 - In all solar cells, and especially in extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells, proper energy band alignment is crucial for efficient photovoltaic conversion. However, available tabulated data usually do not agree with actual results, and in most cases, Voc values lower than expected are achieved. In fact, ETA cells suffer from a very low Voc/E gap ratio, such as in ZnO/CdS/CuSCN cells. Here, we investigate limiting factors of ZnO/CdS/CuSCN ETA cells, applying X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), chemically resolved electrical measurement (CREM), Kelvin probe, and I-V characterization. We show that electric fields are gradually developed in the cell upon increased absorber thickness. Moreover, an accumulation layer, unfavorable for the solar cell function, has been revealed at the oxide-absorber interface An effective chemical treatment to prevent formation of this accumulation layer is demonstrated.
AB - In all solar cells, and especially in extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells, proper energy band alignment is crucial for efficient photovoltaic conversion. However, available tabulated data usually do not agree with actual results, and in most cases, Voc values lower than expected are achieved. In fact, ETA cells suffer from a very low Voc/E gap ratio, such as in ZnO/CdS/CuSCN cells. Here, we investigate limiting factors of ZnO/CdS/CuSCN ETA cells, applying X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), chemically resolved electrical measurement (CREM), Kelvin probe, and I-V characterization. We show that electric fields are gradually developed in the cell upon increased absorber thickness. Moreover, an accumulation layer, unfavorable for the solar cell function, has been revealed at the oxide-absorber interface An effective chemical treatment to prevent formation of this accumulation layer is demonstrated.
KW - CREM
KW - ETA cells
KW - LiSCN
KW - V limit
KW - band diagram
KW - semiconductor-sensitized
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879102220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1021/am401010f
DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/am401010f
M3 - Article
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 5
SP - 5156
EP - 5164
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 11
ER -
