Effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, and absorber-layer thickness in CIGS and CZTSSe thin-film solar cells

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Author(s)Ahmad, Faiz
Author(s)Civiletti, Benjamin J.
Author(s)Monk, Peter B.
Author(s)Lakhtakia, Akhlesh
Date Accessioned2023-08-31T17:39:58Z
Date Available2023-08-31T17:39:58Z
Publication Date2023-06-02
DescriptionCopyright © 2023 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this publication for a fee or for commercial purposes, and modification of the contents of the publication are prohibited. This article was originally published in Journal of Photonics for Energy. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.13.025502
AbstractDetailed optoelectronic simulations of thin-film photovoltaic solar cells (PVSCs) with a homogeneous photon-absorber layer made of with CIGS or CZTSSe were carried out to determine the effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, composition (i.e., bandgap energy), and absorber-layer thickness on solar-cell performance. The transfer-matrix method was used to calculate the electron-hole-pair (EHP) generation rate, and a one-dimensional drift-diffusion model was used to determine the EHP recombination rate, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, power-conversion efficiency, and fill factor. Through a comparison of limited experimental data and simulation results, we formulated expressions for the defect density in terms of the composition parameter of either CIGS or CZTSSe. All performance parameters of the thin-films PVSCs were thereby shown to be obtainable from the bulk material-response parameters of the semiconductor, with the influence of surface defects being small enough to be ignored. Furthermore, unrealistic values of the defect density (equivalently, minority carrier lifetime) will deliver unreliable predictions of the solar-cell performance. The derived expressions should guide fellow researchers in simulating the graded-bandgap and quantum-well-based PVSCs.
SponsorA. Lakhtakia thanks the Charles Godfrey Binder Endowment at Pennsylvania State University for ongoing support of his research. The research of F. Ahmad and A. Lakhtakia was partially supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DMS-2011996. The research of P. B. Monk was supported by the US NSF under Grant No. DMS-2011603. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
CitationFaiz Ahmad, Benjamin J. Civiletti, Peter B. Monk, Akhlesh Lakhtakia, "Effects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, and absorber-layer thickness in CIGS and CZTSSe thin-film solar cells," J. Photon. Energy 13(2) 025502 (2 June 2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JPE.13.025502
ISSN1947-7988
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/33281
Languageen_US
PublisherJournal of Photonics for Energy
Keywordscopper indium gallium selenide
Keywordsthin films
Keywordssolar cells
Keywordsdoping
Keywordssimulations
Keywordsthin film solar cells
Keywordsquantum experiments
Keywordsaffordable and clean energy
TitleEffects of defect density, minority carrier lifetime, doping density, and absorber-layer thickness in CIGS and CZTSSe thin-film solar cells
TypeArticle
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