Conduction band position tuning and Ga-doping in (Cd,Zn)S alloy thin films

Baranowski, Lauryn L.; Christensen, Steven; Welch, Adam W.; Lany, Stephan; Young, Matthew; Toberer, Eric S.; Zakutayev, Andriy

doi:10.1039/C6QM00291A

Title: Conduction band position tuning and Ga-doping in (Cd,Zn)S alloy thin films

Journal Article · 13 February 2017 · Materials Chemistry Frontiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C6QM00291A · OSTI ID:1371527

^[1]; Christensen, Steven ^[2]; Welch, Adam W. ^[1]; Lany, Stephan ^[2]; Young, Matthew ^[2]; Toberer, Eric S. ^[3]; Zakutayev, Andriy ^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

In recent years, the number of novel photovoltaic absorber materials under exploration has rapidly increased. However, to reap the most benefit from these new absorbers, alternative device structures and components must also be considered. In particular, the choice of a heterojunction partner, or contact layer, is critical to device optimization. In this work, we explore alternative n-type contact layer candidates that could be widely applicable to a variety of new absorbers. We use theory to calculate the band edge tuning provided by a variety of II-VI alloy systems, and select the (Cd,Zn)S system as one that affords a wide range of conduction band tuning. The synthesis of (Cd,Zn)S alloys is explored using atomic layer deposition, which afforded precise compositional control and produced crystalline thin films. The predicted tuning of the band gap and conduction band minimum is confirmed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and optical absorption measurements. In addition, we investigated Ga-doping in Cd_0.6Zn_0.4S films to decrease their series resistance when used as contact layers in photovoltaic devices. In conclusion, this study provides a framework for exploring and optimizing alternative contact layer materials, which will prove critical to the success of new PV absorbers.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1371527

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-66853; MCFAC5

Journal Information:: Materials Chemistry Frontiers, Vol. 1, Issue 7; ISSN 2052-1537

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 4 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (36)

Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells with buffer layer alternative to CdS Bhattacharya, R. N.; Ramanathan, K. Solar Energy, Vol. 77, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2004.05.009	journal	December 2004
Buffer layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and modules Hariskos, D.; Spiering, S.; Powalla, M. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 480-481 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2004.11.118	journal	June 2005
Growth optimization of ZnxCd1−xS thin films by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering for solar cell applications Hossain, M. S.; Islam, M. A.; Huda, Q. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 548 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2013.09.061	journal	December 2013
Electronic properties of random alloys: Special quasirandom structures Wei, S. -H.; Ferreira, L. G.; Bernard, James E. Physical Review B, Vol. 42, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.42.9622	journal	November 1990
Evaluation of ZnSnO buffer layers for CuIn0.5Ga0.5Se2 solar cells Hultqvist, A.; Edoff, M.; Törndahl, T. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 19, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.1039	journal	October 2010
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
Band alignment in SnS thin-film solar cells: Possible origin of the low conversion efficiency Burton, Lee A.; Walsh, Aron Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4801313	journal	April 2013
Microemulsion-mediated synthesis of cadmium zinc sulfide nanocrystals with composition-modulated optical properties Chen, Deliang; Gao, Lian Solid State Communications, Vol. 133, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssc.2004.10.024	journal	January 2005
Alloyed Zn _x Cd ₁ _- _x S Nanocrystals with Highly Narrow Luminescence Spectral Width Zhong, Xinhua; Feng, Yaoyu; Knoll, Wolfgang Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 125, Issue 44 https://doi.org/10.1021/ja036683a	journal	November 2003
Thin film solar cell based on CuSbS2 absorber fabricated from an electrochemically deposited metal stack Septina, Wilman; Ikeda, Shigeru; Iga, Yuta Thin Solid Films, Vol. 550 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2013.11.046	journal	January 2014
Compositional engineering of chemical bath deposited (Zn,Cd)S buffer layers for electrodeposited CuIn(S,Se) ₂ and coevaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ solar cells Naghavi, N.; Hubert, C.; Etcheberry, A. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 17, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.853	journal	January 2009
Microreactor Chemical Bath Deposition of Laterally Graded Cd _{1– x} Zn _x S Thin Films: A Route to High-Throughput Optimization for Photovoltaic Buffer Layers McPeak, Kevin M.; Opasanont, Borirak; Shibata, Tomohiro Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/cm3023506	journal	January 2013
Atomic layer deposition of Zn1−xMgxO buffer layers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells Törndahl, T.; Platzer-Björkman, C.; Kessler, J. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 15, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.733	journal	January 2007
Fabrication of Cd1−xZnxS films with controllable zinc doping using a vapor zinc chloride treatment Xia, Wei; Welt, Jonathan A.; Lin, Hao Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 94, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2010.06.037	journal	December 2010
Buffer layers and transparent conducting oxides for chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)₂ based thin film photovoltaics: present status and current developments Naghavi, N.; Abou-Ras, D.; Allsop, N. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 18, Issue 6, p. 411-433 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.955	journal	August 2010
Effects of Thermochemical Treatment on CuSbS ₂ Photovoltaic Absorber Quality and Solar Cell Reproducibility de Souza Lucas, Francisco Willian; Welch, Adam W.; Baranowski, Lauryn L. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 120, Issue 33 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b04206	journal	August 2016
From ultrasoft pseudopotentials to the projector augmented-wave method Kresse, G.; Joubert, D. Physical Review B, Vol. 59, Issue 3, p. 1758-1775 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.59.1758	journal	January 1999
Strong Valence-Band Offset Bowing of ZnO 1 − x S x Enhances p -Type Nitrogen Doping of ZnO-like Alloys Persson, Clas; Platzer-Björkman, Charlotte; Malmström, Jonas Physical Review Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.146403	journal	October 2006
Unraveling the Native Conduction of Trichalcogenides and Its Ideal Band Alignment for New Photovoltaic Interfaces Tumelero, Milton A.; Faccio, Ricardo; Pasa, Andre A. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 120, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b10233	journal	January 2016
High efficiency thin-film CuIn1−xGaxSe2 photovoltaic cells using a Cd1−xZnxS buffer layer Bhattacharya, R. N.; Contreras, M. A.; Egaas, B. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2410230	journal	December 2006
Synthesis, band-gap tuning, structural and optical investigations of Mg doped ZnO nanowires Singh, Jai; Kumar, Pushpendra; Hui, K. S. CrystEngComm, Vol. 14, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1039/c2ce06650e	journal	January 2012
Enhancing the efficiency of SnS solar cells via band-offset engineering with a zinc oxysulfide buffer layer Sinsermsuksakul, Prasert; Hartman, Katy; Bok Kim, Sang Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4789855	journal	February 2013
Fabrication of Cu ₂ SnS ₃ thin-film solar cells with power conversion efficiency of over 4% Kanai, Ayaka; Toyonaga, Kotoba; Chino, Kotaro Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 54, Issue 8S1 https://doi.org/10.7567/JJAP.54.08KC06	journal	July 2015
MOVPE growth of magnesium cadmium sulphide: rocksalt or sphalerite? Poole, I. B.; Ng, T. L.; Maung, N. Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 170, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0248(96)00644-6	journal	January 1997
Band gap engineering and stimulated emission of ZnMgO nanowires Hsu, Hsu-Cheng; Wu, Chun-Yi; Cheng, Hsin-Ming Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 1, Article No. 013101 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2218813	journal	July 2006
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
Alternative buffers for chalcopyrite solar cells Siebentritt, Susanne Solar Energy, Vol. 77, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2004.06.018	journal	December 2004
Optimization of CBD CdS process in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se₂-based solar cells Contreras, Miguel A.; Romero, Manuel J.; To, Bobby Thin Solid Films, Vol. 403-404, p. 204-211 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-6090(01)01538-3	journal	February 2002
Atomic layer deposition of Cd _x Zn _1−x S films Bakke, Jonathan. R.; Tanskanen, Jukka T.; Jung, Hee Joon J. Mater. Chem., Vol. 21, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1039/C0JM02786C	journal	January 2011
Accelerated development of CuSbS ₂ thin film photovoltaic device prototypes : Accelerated development of CuSbS Welch, Adam W.; Baranowski, Lauryn L.; Zawadzki, Pawel Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 24, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2735	journal	February 2016
Effect of phase transition on the optoelectronic properties of Zn _1−x Mg _x S Khan, Imad; Ahmad, Iftikhar; Rahnamaye Aliabad, H. A. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 112, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4756040	journal	October 2012
Synthesis of cadmium oxide doped ZnO nanostructures using electrochemical deposition Singh, Trilok; Pandya, D. K.; Singh, R. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 509, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2011.01.168	journal	April 2011
Implementation and performance of the frequency-dependent G W method within the PAW framework Shishkin, M.; Kresse, G. Physical Review B, Vol. 74, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.74.035101	journal	July 2006
MOCVD growth and characterization of ZnS and Zn1−xMgxS alloys Sallet, V.; Lusson, A.; Rommeluere, M. Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 220, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0248(00)00838-1	journal	December 2000
A Review on Development Prospect of CZTS Based Thin Film Solar Cells Song, Xiangbo; Ji, Xu; Li, Ming International Journal of Photoenergy, Vol. 2014 https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/613173	journal	January 2014
Optical properties and electronic structure of amorphous Ge and Si Tauc, J. Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-5408(68)90023-8	journal	January 1968

Cited By (2)

Efficiency Enhancement of CH3NH3SnI3 Solar Cells by Device Modeling Baig, Faisal; Khattak, Yousaf Hameed; Marí, Bernabé Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 47, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-018-6406-3	journal	June 2018
Research Update: Emerging chalcostibite absorbers for thin-film solar cells de Souza Lucas, Francisco Willian; Zakutayev, Andriy APL Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5027862	journal	August 2018

Similar Records

Exploring Cd-Zn-O-S alloys for improved buffer layers in thin-film photovoltaics

Journal Article · 2017 · Physical Review Materials · OSTI ID:1418936

Varley, J. B.; Lordi, V.; He, X.; +1 more

Collaborative atomic-scale design, analysis, and nanofabrication for record breaking, single-crystal Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Te solar cell arrays

Technical Report · 2018 · OSTI ID:1457787

Zubia, David; Zhou, Xiaowang

In₂ O₃-Ga₂O₃ Alloys as Potential Buffer Layers in CdTe Thin-Film Solar Cells

Journal Article · 2021 · Physical Review Applied · OSTI ID:1841866

Dive, A.; Varley, J.; Banerjee, S.

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
absorber materials
photovoltaics
thin films

Title: Conduction band position tuning and Ga-doping in (Cd,Zn)S alloy thin films

Citation Formats

References (36)

Cited By (2)

Similar Records

Related Subjects