Interfaces of high efficient kesterite Cu2ZnSnS(e)4 thin film solar cells

TL;DR

This review paper discusses recent advances in interface engineering of CZTS(e) thin film solar cells to improve efficiency by optimizing band alignment, passivation, and interface modifications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in interface optimization techniques for CZTS(e) solar cells, highlighting key strategies for efficiency enhancement.

Findings

Optimized band alignment at buffer/CZTS(e) interface.

Effective passivation of rear and front interfaces.

Improved interface quality through etching secondary phases.

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS(e)4 (CZTS(e)) solar cells have attracted much attention due to the elemental abundance and the non-toxicity. However, the record efficiency of 12.6% for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells is much lower than that of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells. One crucial reason is the recombination at interfaces. In recent years, large amount investigations have been done to analyze the interfacial problems and improve the interfacial properties via a variety of methods. This paper gives a review of progresses on interfaces of CZTS(e) solar cells, including: (1) the band alignment optimization at buffer/CZTS(e) interface, (2) tailoring the thickness of MoS(e)2 interfacial layers between CZTS(e) absorber and Mo back contact, (3) the passivation of rear interface, (4) the passivation of front interface, and (5) the etching of secondary phases.