Effect of Annealing Time and Post-Annealing on Performance of Cu2(CdxZn1-x)SnS4/CdS Thin Film Solar Cells

Abstract

Abstract: Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin films have attracted much attention due to their abundant elemental crust content, non-toxic and excellent photoelectric properties. In this paper, Cu₂(Cd_xZn_1-x)SnS₄ (CCZTS) thin films were prepared by partially replacing Zn with Cd based on nano-ink method. The effects of annealing time and post-annealing temperature on the properties of the thin films and solar cells were studied. The results show that the prepared thin films are CCZTS phase without other heterogeneous phases, and the surface of thin films is flat and dense with good crystallinity. With the increase of annealing time, the grain size of thin film increases, the quality of pn junction of the thin film solar cells is improved, and performance of the solar cells is also improved. The effect of elemental diffusion in the absorber layer on the performance of solar cells after post-annealing was analyzed, and the performance of solar cell was improved when Cd elements formed a gradient distribution. With the increase of post-annealing temperature, both of the solar cell performance and pn junction quality first increase and then decrease. The solar cell conversion efficiency is optimal (3.13%) after 300 ℃ post-annealing treatment.

Key words: Cu₂(Cd_xZn_1-x)SnS₄ thin film, CCZTS/CdS solar cell, annealing time, post-annealing, nano-ink method, chemical bath deposition

CLC Number:

TM914.4

WANG Jiawen, HUANG Yong, ZHENG Chaofan, WANG Yuhao, WANG Wei, MAO Mengjie. Effect of Annealing Time and Post-Annealing on Performance of Cu₂(Cd_xZn_1-x)SnS₄/CdS Thin Film Solar Cells[J]. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 2023, 52(3): 476-484.

References

[1] KUMAR A. Theoretical analysis of CZTS/CZTSSe tandem solar cell[J]. Optical and Quantum Electronics, 2021, 53(9): 528.
[2] VALLISREE S, SHARMA A, THANGAVEL R, et al. Investigations of carrier transport mechanism and junction formation in Si/CZTS dual absorber solar cell technology[J]. Applied Physics A, 2020, 126(3): 163.
[3] NWAMBAEKWE KELECHI C, SURU J D V, DOUMAN SAMANTHA F, et al. Crystal engineering and thin-film deposition strategies towards improving the performance of kesterite photovoltaic cell[J]. Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2021, 12: 1252-1287.
[4] CHEN S Y, WALSH A, GONG X G, et al. Classification of lattice defects in the kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ and Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ earth-abundant solar cell absorbers[J]. Advanced Materials, 2013, 25(11): 1522-1539.
[5] TAGREROUT A, RACHED H, DRIEF M, et al. An extensive computational report on the quinary alloys Cu₂Zn_1-xCd_xSnS₄ for the solar cell systems: dft simulation[J]. Computational Condensed Matter, 2022, 31: e00670.
[6] PAYNO D, KAZIM S, AHMAD S. Impact of cation substitution in all solution-processed Cu₂(Cd, Zn)SnS₄ superstrate solar cells[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2021, 9(48): 17392-17400.
[7] SU Z H, TAN J M R, LI X L, et al. Cation substitution of solution-processed Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin film solar cell with over 9% efficiency[J]. Advanced Energy Materials, 2015, 5(19): 1500682.
[8] SU Z H, LIANG G X, FAN P, et al. Device postannealing enabling over 12% efficient solution-processed Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cells with Cd²⁺ substitution[J]. Advanced Materials, 2020, 32(32): 2000121.
[9] FU J, TIAN Q W, ZHOU Z J, et al. Improving the performance of solution-processed Cu₂ZnSn(S, Se)₄ photovoltaic materials by Cd²⁺ substitution[J]. Chemistry of Materials, 2016, 28(16): 5821-5828.
[10] COUREL M, MARTINEZ-AYALA A, SANCHEZ T G, et al. Impact of Cd concentrations on the physical properties of Cu₂(Cd_xZn_1-x)SnS₄ thin films[J]. Superlattices and Microstructures, 2018, 122: 324-335.
[11] WANG W, BAI H, ZHI G W, et al. Preparation of Cu₂Cd_xZn_1-xSnS₄ thin films by nanoparticle ink method[J]. Materials Research Express, 2021, 8(10): 106401.
[12] SHIN B, GUNAWAN O, ZHU Y, et al. Thin film solar cell with 8.4% power conversion efficiency using an earth-abundant Cu₂ZnSnS₄absorber[J]. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2013, 21(1): 72-76.
[13] WANG K, GUNAWAN O, TODOROV T, et al. Thermally evaporated Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cells[J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2010, 97(14): 143508.
[14] 张晓伟, 韩文浩, 徐玉刚, 等. 铜锌锡硫薄膜太阳电池研究综述[J]. 电源技术, 2017, 41(11): 1667-1670.
ZHANG X W, HAN W H, XU Y G, et al. Review of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin film solar cells[J]. Chinese Journal of Power Sources, 2017, 41(11): 1667-1670 (in Chinese).
[15] KHALKAR A, LIM K S, YU S M, et al. Effect of growth parameters and annealing atmosphere on the properties of Cu₂ZnSnS₄thin films deposited by cosputtering[J]. International Journal of Photoenergy, 2013, 2013: 1-7.
[16] ASHFAQ A, JACOB J, BANO N, et al. A two step technique to remove the secondary phases in CZTS thin films grown by sol - gel method[J]. Ceramics International, 2019, 45(8): 10876-10881.
[17] ALTOWAIRQI Y, ALSUBAIE A, STROH K P, et al. The effect of annealing conditions: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on nanocrystal Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) thin film solar cell properties[J]. Materials Today: Proceedings, 2019, 18: 473-486.
[18] SUN K L, YAN C, HUANG J L, et al. Minority lifetime and efficiency improvement for CZTS solar cells via Cd ion soaking and post treatment[J]. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2018, 750: 328-332.
[19] HWANG S K, PARK J H, CHEON K B, et al. Improved interfacial properties of electrodeposited Cu₂ZnSn(S, Se)₄ thin-film solar cells by a facile post-heat treatment process[J]. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2020, 28(12): 1345-1354.
[20] SCRAGG J J S, CHOUBRAC L, LAFOND A, et al. A low-temperature order-disorder transition in Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin films[J]. Applied Physics Letters, 2014, 104(4): 041911.
[21] WEBER A, MAINZ R, SCHOCK H W. On the Sn loss from thin films of the material system Cu-Zn-Sn-S in high vacuum[J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2010, 107(1): 013516.
[22] 赵佳斌, 李晓亮, 王吉宁, 等. 共溅射法制备Zn元素梯度分布Cu₂ZnSnS₄薄膜[J]. 稀有金属, 2018, 42(12): 1281-1286.
ZHAO J B, LI X L, WANG J N, et al. Preparation of Cu₂ZnSnS₄ films with Zn element gradient structure by Co-sputtering[J]. Chinese Journal of Rare Metals, 2018, 42(12): 1281-1286 (in Chinese).
[23] ZHAO Q C, SHEN H L, XU Y J, et al. Effect of CZTS/CCZTS stacked structures prepared through split-cycle on the performance of flexible solar cells[J]. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2022, 5(3): 3668-3676.
[24] WANG S J, HUANG L, YE Z, et al. Fabrication of high-efficiency Cu₂(Zn, Cd)SnS₄ solar cells by a rubidium fluoride assisted co-evaporation/annealing method[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2021, 9(45): 25522-25530.

Effect of Annealing Time and Post-Annealing on Performance of Cu₂(Cd_xZn_1-x)SnS₄/CdS Thin Film Solar Cells

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 13

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	LIU Lihua, ZHAO Jingjing, QIN Binhao, YANG Weijia, WANG Haiyan. Effect of Radio Frequency Sputtering Power on the Structure and Properties of Mn-Co-Ni-O Thin Films [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2022, 51(8): 1361-1369.
[2]	ZHANG Xiaoyong, ZHANG Yanchun, ZHANG Xiaoyu, ZHANG Sen. Microstructure and Properties of Cadmium Sulfide Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2021, 50(2): 310-317.
[3]	WANG Yan-xiang;ZHAO Xing-yu;FAN Xue-yun;YANG Zhi-sheng;HUANG Li-qun;SUN Jian. Preparation of Hierarchical ZnO Microsphere Powders by Chemical Bath Deposition Method and Its Battery Performance [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2016, 45(3): 749-756.
[4]	DU Jing-jing;ZHAO Jun-wei;CHENG Xiao-min;WANG Ke-sheng. Fabrication and Photocatalytic Performance of CdS/TiO2 Nanotube Arrays [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2016, 45(2): 535-539.
[5]	JIAO Jing;SHEN Hong-lie;LI Jin-ze. Influence of Bath Temperature on Photoelectric Property of CdxZn1-xS Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2015, 44(8): 2051-2056.
[6]	LIU Ying;MIAO Yan-mei;HAO Rui-ting;GUO Jie;YANG Hai-gang. Structures and Visible-near Infrared Spectral Properties of ZnS Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2015, 44(3): 610-615.
[7]	. Effect of Ammonia Concentration on the Properties of Chemical Bath Deposited CdS Thin Films and CZTSe Solar Cell [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2015, 44(12): 3401-3405.
[8]	. Preparation and Photovoltaic Application of Thickness Adjustable CuS Counter Electrode [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2015, 44(11): 2964-2969.
[9]	WANG Yan-xiang;HUANG Dan-dan;YANG Zhi-sheng;HUANG Li-qun;FAN Xue-yun;LI Jia-ke;SUN Jian. Preparation of Perpendicular ZnO Nanosheets and Their Performance of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2015, 44(10): 2828-2836.
[10]	LIU Jian. Preparation of Sb2S3 Thin Film by Chemical Bath Deposition and Piranha Chemistry Method [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2014, 43(12): 3318-3322.
[11]	JIA Wei;LIU Hai-rui;ZHANG Zhu-xia;LI Tian-bao;LIU Xu-guang;XU Bing-she. Growth Mechanism of ZnO Nanoparticle-aggregated Microspheres [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2014, 43(1): 42-46.
[12]	PAN Jing-wei;MA Xiang-yang;ZHANG Hui;YANG De-ren. Preparation of ZnO Nanorod Arrays by Seed-assisted Chemical Bath Deposition Method [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2009, 38(6): 1304-1308.
[13]	LU Yong;LIN Li-bin;ZOU Pin;HE Jie;WANG Peng. Optical and Electrical Properties of VO2 Thin Films Affected by Valence and Structure [J]. JOURNAL OF SYNTHETIC CRYSTALS, 2001, 30(2): 185-191.