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Effect of back contact surface nitriding on the growth of Cu2ZnSnSe4 and solar cells performances

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Abstract

Interfacial performance optimization is one of the significant means to improve the efficiency of Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) solar cells. Here, nitridation treatment was applied to the molybdenum back contact surface by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE), and provide a feasible method for compound optimization of back contact and a novel understanding of the CZTSe growth mechanism. It is found that the nitridation changes the CZTSe growth process and regulates the elemental distribution. A MoNx layer forms on the back contact surface, which inhibits the decomposition reaction of the bottom absorber layer with molybdenum and reduces the generation of over thick MoSe2. This interlayer also improves carrier transport efficiency by forming quasi-ohmic contact and provides a hole-selective transportation to reduce interfacial carrier recombination, due to its high work function. Finally, the efficiency of CZTSe solar cell is improved by 32% from 4.93% to 6.51% accompanied with the increase of VOC, JSC, and FF.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (grant no. 2021A1515010626) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 62374187).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Solar Energy Systems, School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Ruixi Lin, Yunfeng Liang, Dongying Li, Wanjie Xin & Ruijiang Hong

  2. State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Hai Zhu

  3. School of Materials, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Chunhong Zeng

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  1. Ruixi Lin
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Contributions

Ruixi Lin: Investigation, Writing—original draft. Yunfeng Liang: Investigation, Supervision. Dongying Li: Validation, Visualization. Mingyu Yuan: Investigation. Wanjie Xin: Investigation. Hai Zhu: Resources. Chunhong Zeng: Conceptualization, Writing—review & editing. Ruijiang Hong: Resources, Supervision, Project administration.

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Correspondence to Chunhong Zeng or Ruijiang Hong.

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Lin, R., Liang, Y., Li, D. et al. Effect of back contact surface nitriding on the growth of Cu2ZnSnSe4 and solar cells performances. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 35, 412 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-024-12192-5

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