Determining interface properties limiting open-circuit voltage in heterojunction solar cells

Brandt, Riley E.; Mangan, Niall M.; Li, Jian V.; Lee, Yun Seog; Buonassisi, Tonio

doi:10.1063/1.4982752

Title: Determining interface properties limiting open-circuit voltage in heterojunction solar cells

Journal Article · Tue May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982752· OSTI ID:1364054

Brandt, Riley E. ^[1];

^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[2]; Lee, Yun Seog ^[1]; Buonassisi, Tonio ^[1]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

The development of new thin-film photovoltaic (PV) absorbers is often hindered by the search for an optimal heterojunction contact; an unoptimized contact may be mistaken for poor quality of the underlying absorber, making it difficult to assess the reasons for poor performance. Therefore, quantifying the loss in device efficiency and open-circuit voltage (VOC) as a result of the interface is a critical step in evaluating a new material. In the present work, we fabricate thin-film PV devices using cuprous oxide (Cu2O), with several different n-type heterojunction contacts. Their current-voltage characteristics are measured over a range of temperatures and illumination intensities (JVTi). We quantify the loss in VOC due to the interface and determine the effective energy gap at the interface. The effective interface gap measured by JVTi matches the gap measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, albeit with higher energy resolution and an order of magnitude faster. We discuss potential artifacts in JVTi measurements and areas where analytical models are insufficient. Applying JVTi to complete devices, rather than incomplete material stacks, suggests that it can be a quick, accurate method to assess the loss due to unoptimized interface band offsets in thin-film PV devices.

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Next Generation of Materials by Design: Incorporating Metastability (CNGMD); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S), SunShot Initiative

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1364054

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-68693; JAPIAU

Journal Information:: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 18; ISSN 0021-8979

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (43)

Thin film PV manufacturing: Materials costs and their optimization Zweibel, Ken Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 63, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00057-X	journal	August 2000
Crystalline silicon photovoltaics: a cost analysis framework for determining technology pathways to reach baseload electricity costs Powell, D. M.; Winkler, M. T.; Choi, H. J. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ee03489a	journal	January 2012
Nonconventional (Non-Silicon-Based) Photovoltaic Materials Unold, T.; Schock, H. W. Annual Review of Materials Research, Vol. 41, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-matsci-062910-100437	journal	August 2011
Materials Availability Expands the Opportunity for Large-Scale Photovoltaics Deployment Wadia, Cyrus; Alivisatos, A. Paul; Kammen, Daniel M. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 43, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/es8019534	journal	March 2009
Sustainability metrics for extending thin-film photovoltaics to terawatt levels Fthenakis, Vasilis MRS Bulletin, Vol. 37, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2012.50	journal	April 2012
Electronic properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 heterojunction solar cells-recent achievements, current understanding, and future challenges Rau, U.; Schock, H. W. Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing, Vol. 69, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s003390050984	journal	August 1999
CdTe Solar Cells at the Threshold to 20% Efficiency Gloeckler, M.; Sankin, I.; Zhao, Z. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 3, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2278661	journal	October 2013
Device Characteristics of CZTSSe Thin-Film Solar Cells with 12.6% Efficiency Wang, Wei; Winkler, Mark T.; Gunawan, Oki Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 7, Article No. 1301465 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201301465	journal	November 2013
The emergence of perovskite solar cells Green, Martin A.; Ho-Baillie, Anita; Snaith, Henry J. Nature Photonics, Vol. 8, Issue 7, p. 506-514 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2014.134	journal	July 2014
Overcoming Efficiency Limitations of SnS-Based Solar Cells Sinsermsuksakul, Prasert; Sun, Leizhi; Lee, Sang Woon Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201400496	journal	June 2014
3.88% Efficient Tin Sulfide Solar Cells using Congruent Thermal Evaporation Steinmann, Vera; Jaramillo, R.; Hartman, Katy Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 44 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201402219	journal	August 2014
CuSbSe ₂ photovoltaic devices with 3% efficiency Welch, Adam W.; Baranowski, Lauryn L.; Zawadzki, Pawel Applied Physics Express, Vol. 8, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.7567/APEX.8.082301	journal	July 2015
Thin-film Sb2Se3 photovoltaics with oriented one-dimensional ribbons and benign grain boundaries Zhou, Ying; Wang, Liang; Chen, Shiyou Nature Photonics, Vol. 9, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.78	journal	May 2015
Atomic Layer Deposited Gallium Oxide Buffer Layer Enables 1.2 V Open-Circuit Voltage in Cuprous Oxide Solar Cells Lee, Yun Seog; Chua, Danny; Brandt, Riley E. Advanced Materials, Vol. 26, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201401054	journal	May 2014
Efficiency enhancement using a Zn ₁₋ _x Ge _x -O thin film as an n-type window layer in Cu ₂ O-based heterojunction solar cells Minami, Tadatsugu; Nishi, Yuki; Miyata, Toshihiro Applied Physics Express, Vol. 9, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.7567/APEX.9.052301	journal	April 2016
Non-cubic solar cell materials Steinmann, Vera; Brandt, Riley E.; Buonassisi, Tonio Nature Photonics, Vol. 9, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.85	journal	May 2015
Band offsets of n-type electron-selective contacts on cuprous oxide (Cu2O) for photovoltaics Brandt, Riley E.; Young, Matthew; Park, Helen Hejin Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4905180	journal	December 2014
Ultrathin amorphous zinc-tin-oxide buffer layer for enhancing heterojunction interface quality in metal-oxide solar cells Lee, Yun Seog; Heo, Jaeyeong; Siah, Sin Cheng Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ee24461j	journal	January 2013
Improved Cu ₂ O-Based Solar Cells Using Atomic Layer Deposition to Control the Cu Oxidation State at the p-n Junction Lee, Sang Woon; Lee, Yun Seog; Heo, Jaeyeong Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201301916	journal	April 2014
Interface stoichiometry control to improve device voltage and modify band alignment in ZnO/Cu ₂ O heterojunction solar cells Wilson, Samantha S.; Bosco, Jeffrey P.; Tolstova, Yulia Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE01956C	journal	January 2014
Perspective: Maintaining surface-phase purity is key to efficient open air fabricated cuprous oxide solar cells Hoye, Robert L. Z.; Brandt, Riley E.; Ievskaya, Yulia APL Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4913442	journal	February 2015
Solar cell efficiency tables (version 46): Solar cell efficiency tables (version 46) Green, Martin A.; Emery, Keith; Hishikawa, Yoshihiro Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 23, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2637	journal	June 2015
Properties of ZnO/CdS/CuInSe2 solar cells with improved performance AbuShama, Jehad A. M.; Johnston, S.; Moriarty, T. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.537	journal	January 2004
A perovskite cell with a record-high-V _oc of 1.61 V based on solvent annealed CH ₃ NH ₃ PbBr ₃ /ICBA active layer Wu, Chun-Guey; Chiang, Chien-Hung; Chang, Sheng Hsiung Nanoscale, Vol. 8, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5NR07739G	journal	January 2016
High-Efficiency Oxide Solar Cells with ZnO/Cu ₂ O Heterojunction Fabricated on Thermally Oxidized Cu ₂ O Sheets Minami, Tadatsugu; Nishi, Yuki; Miyata, Toshihiro Applied Physics Express, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1143/APEX.4.062301	journal	May 2011
High-Efficiency Cu ₂ O-Based Heterojunction Solar Cells Fabricated Using a Ga ₂ O ₃ Thin Film as N-Type Layer Minami, Tadatsugu; Nishi, Yuki; Miyata, Toshihiro Applied Physics Express, Vol. 6, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.7567/APEX.6.044101	journal	April 2013
Heterojunction solar cell with 6% efficiency based on an n-type aluminum–gallium–oxide thin film and p-type sodium-doped Cu ₂ O sheet Minami, Tadatsugu; Nishi, Yuki; Miyata, Toshihiro Applied Physics Express, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.7567/APEX.8.022301	journal	January 2015
On the CdS/CuInSe ₂ conduction band discontinuity Niemegeers, Alex; Burgelman, Marc; De Vos, Alexis Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 67, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.115523	journal	August 1995
Theoretical analysis of the effect of conduction band offset of window/CIS layers on performance of CIS solar cells using device simulation Minemoto, Takashi; Matsui, Takuya; Takakura, Hideyuki Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 67, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00266-X	journal	March 2001
Cliff-like conduction band offset and KCN-induced recombination barrier enhancement at the CdS/Cu ₂ ZnSnS ₄ thin-film solar cell heterojunction Bär, M.; Schubert, B. -A.; Marsen, B. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3663327	journal	November 2011
Thin-film solar cells: device measurements and analysis Hegedus, Steven S.; Shafarman, William N. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 12, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.518	journal	March 2004
Loss mechanisms in hydrazine-processed Cu2ZnSn(Se,S)4 solar cells Gunawan, Oki; Todorov, Teodor K.; Mitzi, David B. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3522884	journal	December 2010
Characterisation and modelling of chalcopyrite solar cells Klenk, Reiner Thin Solid Films, Vol. 387, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(00)01736-3	journal	May 2001
Activation energy of heterojunction diode currents in the limit of interface recombination Scheer, R. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 105, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3126523	journal	May 2009
Open-Circuit Voltage Deficit, Radiative Sub-Bandgap States, and Prospects in Quantum Dot Solar Cells Chuang, Chia-Hao Marcus; Maurano, Andrea; Brandt, Riley E. Nano Letters, Vol. 15, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00513	journal	April 2015
Generalized current-voltage analysis and efficiency limitations in non-ideal solar cells: Case of Cu ₂ ZnSn(S _x Se _1−x ) ₄ and Cu ₂ Zn(Sn _y Ge _1−y )(S _x Se _1−x ) ₄ Hages, Charles J.; Carter, Nathaniel J.; Agrawal, Rakesh Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4882119	journal	June 2014
Generalized quantum efficiency analysis for non-ideal solar cells: Case of Cu ₂ ZnSnSe ₄ Hages, Charles J.; Carter, Nathaniel J.; Agrawal, Rakesh Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939487	journal	January 2016
Reformulation of solar cell physics to facilitate experimental separation of recombination pathways Grover, Sachit; Li, Jian V.; Young, David L. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4819728	journal	August 2013
A recombination analysis of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with low and high Ga compositions Li, Jian V.; Grover, Sachit; Contreras, Miguel A. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 124, p. 143-149 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2014.01.047	journal	May 2014
Suns- V _OC characteristics of high performance kesterite solar cells Gunawan, Oki; Gokmen, Tayfun; Mitzi, David B. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4893315	journal	August 2014
Sensitivity Analysis of Optical Metrics for Spectral Splitting Photovoltaic Systems: A Case Study Berney Needleman, David; Mailoa, Jonathan P.; Brandt, Riley E. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2457292	journal	September 2015
Framework to predict optimal buffer layer pairing for thin film solar cell absorbers: A case study for tin sulfide/zinc oxysulfide Mangan, Niall M.; Brandt, Riley E.; Steinmann, Vera Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4930581	journal	September 2015
Defects in Cu2O studied by deep level transient spectroscopy Paul, G. K.; Nawa, Y.; Sato, H. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 88, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2175492	journal	April 2006

Cited By (3)

Exchange current density model for the contact-determined current-voltage behavior of solar cells Roe, Ellis T.; Egelhofer, Kira E.; Lonergan, Mark C. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5090519	journal	June 2019
Numerical investigation on efficiency improvement of double layer antireflection coating AZO/buffer/Cu ₂ O/CuO on back-surface fluorine-doped tin oxide heterostructure solar cells Rizi, Majid Toghyani; Shahrokh Abadi, M. H. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Vol. 36, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1364/josab.36.001155	journal	January 2019
Strongly Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance and Defect Physics of Air-Stable Bismuth Oxyiodide (BiOI) Hoye, Robert; Lee, Lana; Kurchin, Rc Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.12816	text	January 2017

Similar Records

Determining interface properties limiting open-circuit voltage in heterojunction solar cells

Journal Article · Tue May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1364054

Brandt, Riley E.; Mangan, Niall M.; Li, Jian V.; +2 more

Study of Passivation in the Gap Region Between Contacts of Interdigitated-Back-Contact Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells: Simulation and Voltage-Modulated Laser-Beam-Induced-Current

Journal Article · Tue Jan 23 00:00:00 EST 2018 · IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics · OSTI ID:1364054

Zhang, Lei; Ahmed, Nuha; Thompson, Christopher; +2 more

Diagnosing and overcoming recombination and resistive losses in non-silicon solar cells using a silicon-inspired characterization platform

Technical Report · Wed Feb 07 00:00:00 EST 2024 · OSTI ID:1364054

Holman, Zachary

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
activation energies
solar cells
heterojunctions
band gap
illumination

Title: Determining interface properties limiting open-circuit voltage in heterojunction solar cells

Citation Formats

References (43)

Cited By (3)

Similar Records

Related Subjects