A review on chemical bath deposition of metal chalcogenide thin films for heterojunction solar cells
Source abstract
Abstract
Abstract Heterojunction (HJ) thin-film II–VI solar cells are emergent substitutes to the traditional silicon solar cells because of improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness. A renewed interest in depositing the constituent layers employing chemical bath deposition (CBD) is shown because of the absence of any stringent reaction conditions which ensures the preservation of the properties of the constituent layers. Variation in the growth conditions has strong effects on the morphologies and the properties of the resultant films specially the interface. Inappropriate or alloyed interfaces may result in pinholes formation affecting the resultant electric field because of reduced junction area and enhanced recombination for carriers which in turn affects the efficiency. In this review, we provide an overview of the different combinations of metal chalcogenide/chalcopyrite thin-film layers for HJ solar cells by CBD and achieving control over the resultant morphology, particularly focusing on interfacial epitaxial relationship which is found to have substantial influence on the efficiency of the resultant cell. Graphical abstract Heterojunction (HJ) thin-film II–VI solar cells are emergent substitutes to the traditional silicon solar cells because of improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness. A renewed interest in depositing the constituent layers employing chemical bath deposition (CBD) is shown because of its simplicity and versatility. Variation in the growth conditions like temperature and the reagent concentrations have strong effects on the morphologies and the properties of the resultant films specially the interface. In this review, we provide an overview of the different combinations of metal chalcogenide/ chalcopyrite thin-film layers for HJ solar cells by CBD and achieving control over the resultant morphology and phase composition, particularly focusing on interfacial epitaxial relationship, which is found to have substantial influence on the efficiency of the resultant cell.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films · Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties · Semiconductor materials and interfaces
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (100+)
Show source-provided references
1. N. Asim, K. Sopian, S. Ahmadi, K. Saeedfar, M.A. Alghoul, O. Saadatian, S.H. Zaidi, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 16, 5834 (2012)10.1016/j.rser.2012.06.004 ↗
2. K.L. Chopra, P.D. Paulson, V. Dutta, Prog. Photovolt. 12, 69–92 (2004)10.1002/pip.541 ↗
3. R. Corkish, Encyclopedia of Energy (Elsevier, New York, 2004)
4. T. Soga, Nanostructured Materials for Solar Energy Conversion (Elsevier, New York, 2006)
5. M.A. Contreras, B. Egaas, K. Ramanathan, J. Hiltner, A. Swartzlander, F. Hasoon, R. Noufi, Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 7, 311 (1999)10.1002/(SICI)1099-159X(199907/08)7:4<311::AID-PIP274>3.0.CO;2-G ↗
6. M. Kemell, M. Ritala, M. Leskelä, Crit. Rev. Solid State Mater. Sci. 30, 1 (2005)10.1080/10408430590918341 ↗
7. A. Goetzberger, V. Hoffmann, Photovoltaic Solar Energy Generation (Springer, Berlin, 2005)
8. O.K. Simya, P. Radhakrishnan, A. Ashok, K. Kavitha, R. Althaf, Handbook of Nanomaterials for Industrial Applications (Elsevier, New York, 2018)
9. M.A. Green, Physics E 14, 65 (2002)10.1016/S1386-9477(02)00361-2 ↗
10. E.H. Anaraki et al., Energy Environ. Sci. 350, 2761 (2013)
11. G. Yang, H. Tao, P. Qin, W. Ke, G. Fang, J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 3970 (2016)10.1039/C5TA09011C ↗
12. F. Gaspari, S. Quaranta, Comprehensive Energy Systems (Elsevier, New York, 2018)
13. T. Kirchartz, D. Abou-Ras, U. Rau, Advanced Characterizarion Techniques for Thin Film Solar Cells (Wiley, Hoboken, 2016)
14. J. George, Preparation of Thin Films (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1992)
15. K. Seshan, D. Schepis, Handbook of Thin Film Deposition, 4th edn. (Elsevier, New York, 2018)
16. L. Eckertova, Physics of Thin Films (Springer, Berlin, 1977)10.1007/978-1-4615-7589-4 ↗
17. G. Hodes, Chemical Solution Deposition Of Semiconductor Films (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2002)10.1201/9780203909096 ↗
18. R.S. Mane, C.D. Lokhande, Mater. Chem. Phys. 65, 1 (2000)10.1016/S0254-0584(00)00217-0 ↗
19. P.K. Nair, M. Ocampo, A. Fernandez, M.T.S. Nair, Sol. Energy Mater. 20, 235 (1990)10.1016/0165-1633(90)90008-O ↗
20. P.K. Nair, V.M. Garcia, A.M. Fernandez, H.S. Ruiz, M.T.S. Nair, J. Phys. D 24, 441 (1991)10.1088/0022-3727/24/3/031 ↗
21. P.J. Sebastiant, M. Pattabi, J. Phys. D 25, 981 (1992)10.1088/0022-3727/25/6/014 ↗
22. P.K. Nair, M.T.S. Nair, V.M. García, O.L. Arenas, Y. Peña, A. Castillo, I.T. Ayala, O. Gomezdaza, A. Sánchez, J. Campos, H. Hu, R. Suárez, M.E. Rincón, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 52, 313 (1998)10.1016/S0927-0248(97)00237-7 ↗
23. T.L. Chu, S.S. Chu, Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 1, 31 (1993)10.1002/pip.4670010105 ↗
24. T.L. Chu, S.S. Chu, N. Schultz, C. Wang, C.Q. Wu, J. Electrochem. Soc. 139, 2443 (1992)10.1149/1.2221246 ↗
25. T.L. Chu, S.S. Chu, C. Ferekides, C.Q. Wu, J. Britt, C. Wang, J. Appl. Phys. 70, 7608 (1991)10.1063/1.349717 ↗
26. F.G. Hone, T. Abza, Int. J. Thin Film Sci. Technol. 8, 43 (2019)
27. S. Sengupta, R. Aggarwal, Y. Golan, Mater. Chem. Front. 5, 2035 (2021)10.1039/D0QM00931H ↗
28. H.M. Pathan, C.D. Lokhande, Bull. Mater. Sci. 27, 85 (2004)10.1007/BF02708491 ↗
29. H. Unuma, T. Kanehama, K. Yamamoto, K. Watanabe, T. Ogata, M. Sugawara, J. Mater. Sci. 38, 255 (2003)10.1023/A:1021197029004 ↗
30. M. Ristov, G. Sinadinovski, I. Grozdanov, M. Mitreski, Thin Solid Films 173, 53 (1998)10.1016/0040-6090(89)90536-1 ↗
31. J.W. Garland, T. Biegala, M. Carmody, C. Gilmore, S. Sivananthan, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 102423 (2011)10.1063/1.3582902 ↗
32. T.D. Lee, A.U. Ebong, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 70, 1286 (2017)10.1016/j.rser.2016.12.028 ↗
33. X. Wu, Sol. Energy 77, 803 (2004)10.1016/j.solener.2004.06.006 ↗
34. A. Romeo, E. Artegiani, D. Menossi, Sol. Energy 175, 9 (2018)10.1016/j.solener.2018.02.038 ↗
35. B.M. Basol, B. McCandless, J. Photonics Energy 4, 040996 (2014)10.1117/1.JPE.4.040996 ↗
36. R. Mendoza-Pérez, J. Aguilar-Hernández, J. Sastre-Hernández, N. Ximello-Quiebras, G. Contreras-Puente, G. Santana-Rodríguez, O. Vigil-Galán, E. Moreno-García, A. Morales-Acevedo, Sol. Energy 80, 682 (2006)10.1016/j.solener.2006.01.002 ↗
37. T. Sinha, L. Verma, A. Khare, Appl. Phys. A 126, 867 (2020)10.1007/s00339-020-04058-4 ↗
38. T. Sinha, D. Lilhare, A. Khare, J. Mater. Sci. 54, 12189 (2019)10.1007/s10853-019-03651-0 ↗
39. C. Ferekides, J. Britt, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 35, 255 (1994)10.1016/0927-0248(94)90148-1 ↗
40. A. Ashok, G. Regmi, A. Romero-Núñez, M. Solis-López, S. Velumani, H. Castaneda, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 31, 7499 (2020)10.1007/s10854-020-03024-3 ↗
41. J. Britt, C. Ferekides, Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 2851 (1993)10.1063/1.109629 ↗
42. O. Vigil-Gaĺn, A. Arias-Carbajal, R. Mendoza-Pérez, G. Santana-Rodríguez, J. Sastre-Herńndez, J.C. Alonso, E. Moreno-García, G. Contreras-Puente, A. Morales-Acevedo, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 20, 819 (2005)10.1088/0268-1242/20/8/032 ↗
43. X. Wu, J. C. Keane, R. G. Dhere, C. DeHart, D. S. Albin, A. Duda, T. A. Gessert, S. Asher, D. H. Levi and P. Sheldon, in Proceedings of the 17th European PVSEC, 995 (2001).
44. A. Morales-Acevedo, Sol. Energy 80, 675 (2006)10.1016/j.solener.2005.10.008 ↗
45. R. Yang, L. Wan, D. Wang, D. Wang, RSC Adv. 4, 22162 (2014)10.1039/C4RA01394H ↗
46. A. Mutalikdesai, S.K. Ramasesha, Thin Solid Films 632, 73 (2017)10.1016/j.tsf.2017.04.036 ↗
47. R.W. Crisp, G.F. Pach, J.M. Kurley, R.M. France, M.O. Reese, S.U. Nanayakkara, B.A. Macleod, D.V. Talapin, M.C. Beard, J.M. Luther, Nano Lett. 17, 1020 (2017)10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04423 ↗
48. X. Fang, S. Ren, C. Li, C. Li, G. Chen, H. Lai, J. Zhang, L. Wu, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 188, 93 (2018)10.1016/j.solmat.2018.08.015 ↗
49. K. M. Morris, C. Potamialis, F. Bittau, J. W. Bowers and J. M. Walls, Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovolt. Spec. Conf., 1857 (2019).10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8981251 ↗
50. T. Baines, G. Zoppi, L. Bowen, T.P. Shalvey, S. Mariotti, K. Durose, J.D. Major, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 180, 196 (2018)10.1016/j.solmat.2018.03.010 ↗
51. M.G. Reyes-Banda, E. Regalado-Perez, M.I. Pintor-Monroy, C.A. Hernández-Gutiérrez, M.A. Quevedo-López, X. Mathew, Superlattices Microstruct. 133, 106219 (2019)10.1016/j.spmi.2019.106219 ↗
52. N.R. Paudel, Y. Yan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 183510 (2014)10.1063/1.4901532 ↗
53. P.K. Nair, M.T.S. Nair, A. Fernandez, M. Ocampo, J. Phys. D 22, 829 (1989)10.1088/0022-3727/22/6/021 ↗
54. P.K. Nair, M.T.S. Nair, J. Phys. D 23, 150 (1990)10.1088/0022-3727/23/2/004 ↗
55. H.M. Garcia, O. Gómez-Daza, J. Campos, M.T.S. Nair, P.K. Nair, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1012, 451 (2007)10.1557/PROC-1012-Y12-31 ↗
56. N. Kavitha, R. Chandramohan, S. Valanarasu, T.A. Vijayan, S.R. Rosario, A. Kathalingam, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 27, 2574 (2016)10.1007/s10854-015-4060-6 ↗
57. H. Sattarian, T. Tohidi, S. Rahmatallahpur, Mater. Sci. Pol. 34, 540 (2016)10.1515/msp-2016-0072 ↗
58. H.A. Mohamed, Sol. Energy 108, 360 (2014)10.1016/j.solener.2014.07.017 ↗
59. D. Saikia, P. Phukan, Thin Solid Films 562, 239 (2014)10.1016/j.tsf.2014.04.065 ↗
60. R.A. Orozco-Terán, M. Sotelo-Lerma, R. Ramirez-Bon, M.A. Quevedo-López, O. Mendoza-González, O. Zelava-Angel, Thin Solid Films 343–344, 587 (1999)10.1016/S0040-6090(98)01719-2 ↗
61. O.P. Agnihotri, B.K. Gupta, R. Thangaraj, Solid State Electron. 22, 218 (1979)10.1016/0038-1101(79)90118-7 ↗
62. J. Hernández-Borja, Y.V. Vorobiev, R. Ramírez-Bon, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 95, 1882 (2011)10.1016/j.solmat.2011.02.012 ↗
63. A.S. Obaid, Z. Hassan, M.A. Mahdi, M. Bououdina, Sol. Energy 89, 143 (2013)10.1016/j.solener.2012.12.010 ↗
64. D.H. Yeon, B.C. Mohanty, S.M. Lee, Y.S. Cho, Sci. Rep. 5, 14353 (2015)10.1038/srep14353 ↗
65. D.H. Yeon, B.C. Mohanty, C.Y. Lee, S.M. Lee, Y.S. Cho, ACS Omega 2, 4894 (2017)10.1021/acsomega.7b00999 ↗
66. C.E. Pérez-García, S. Meraz-Dávila, G. Arreola-Jardón, F. De Moure-Flores, R. Ramírez-Bon, Y.V. Vorobiev, Mater. Res. Express 7, 015530 (2020)10.1088/2053-1591/ab6b5c ↗
67. C. Augustine, M.N. Nnabuchi, R.A. Chikwenze, F.N.C. Anyaegbunam, C. Nwosu, C.O. Dike, C.V. Ezeh, B.J. Robert, E.M. Yohanna, E.N. Taddy, Chalcogenide Lett. 15, 591 (2018)
68. S. Sengupta, T. Templeman, C. Chen, E. Moon, M. Shandalov, V. Ezersky, J. Phillips, Y. Golan, J. Mater. Chem. C 4, 1996 (2016)10.1039/C5TC04147C ↗
69. E. Barrios-Salgado, M.T.S. Nair, P.K. Nair, R.A. Zingaro, Thin Solid Films 519, 7432 (2011)10.1016/j.tsf.2010.12.226 ↗
70. P.K. Nair, E. Barrios-Salgado, J. Capistrán, M.L. Ramón, M.T.S. Nair, R.A. Zingaro, J. Electrochem. Soc. 157, D528 (2010)10.1149/1.3467844 ↗
71. J. Zhang, J. Gao, C.P. Church, E.M. Miller, J.M. Luther, V.I. Klimov, M.C. Beard, Nano Lett. 14, 6010 (2014)10.1021/nl503085v ↗
72. L. Hu, X. Geng, S. Singh, J. Shi, Y. Hu, S. Li, X. Guan, T. He, X. Li, Z. Cheng, R. Patterson, S. Huang, T. Wu, Nano Energy 64, 1 (2019)10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.103922 ↗
73. W. Ahmad, J. He, Z. Liu, K. Xu, Z. Chen, X. Yang, D. Li, Y. Xia, J. Zhang, C. Chen, Adv. Mater. 31, 1900593 (2019)10.1002/adma.201900593 ↗
74. M.H. Jang, S.S. Yoo, M.T. Kramer, N.K. Dhar, M.C. Gupta, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 34, 065009 (2019)10.1088/1361-6641/ab19e7 ↗
75. B. Weng, J. Qiu, L. Zhao, C. Chang, Z. Shi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 121111 (2014)10.1063/1.4869752 ↗
76. P. Jackson, R. Wuerz, D. Hariskos, E. Lotter, W. Witte, M. Powalla, Phys. Status Solidi. 10, 583 (2016)
77. H.R. Moutinho, S. Johnston, B. To, C.S. Jiang, C. Xiao, P. Hacke, J. Moseley, J. Tynan, N.G. Dhere, M.M. Al-Jassim, Sol. Energy 161, 235 (2018)10.1016/j.solener.2017.11.071 ↗
78. N. Naghavi, D. Abou-Ras, N. Allsop, N. Barreau, S. Bücheler, A. Ennaoui, C.H. Fischer, C. Guillen, D. Hariskos, J. Herrero, R. Klenk, K. Kushiya, D. Lincot, R. Menner, T. Nakada, C. Platzer-Björkman, S. Spiering, A.N. Tiwari, T. Törndahl, Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 18, 411 (2010)10.1002/pip.955 ↗
79. M. Gloeckler, J.R. Sites, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 66, 1891 (2005)10.1016/j.jpcs.2005.09.087 ↗
80. M. Asaduzzaman, M. Hasan, A.N. Bahar, Springerplus 578, 2256 (2016)
81. Y. Hashimoto, N. Kohara, T. Negami, N. Nishitani, T. Wada, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 50, 71 (1998)10.1016/S0927-0248(97)00124-4 ↗
82. K. Ramanathan, M.A. Contreras, C.L. Perkins, S. Asher, F.S. Hasoon, J. Keane, D. Young, M. Romero, W. Metzger, R. Noufi, J. Ward, A. Duda, Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 11, 225 (2003)10.1002/pip.494 ↗
83. H. Komaki, A. Yamada, K. Sakurai, S. Ishizuka, Y. Kamikawa-Shimizu, K. Matsubara, H. Shibata, S. Niki, Phys. Status Solidi Appl. Mater. Sci. 206, 1072 (2009)10.1002/pssa.200881159 ↗
84. T. Negami, Y. Hashimoto, S. Nishiwaki, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 67, 331 (2001)10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00300-7 ↗
85. P.K.V. Pillai, K.P. Vijayakumar, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 51, 47 (1998)10.1016/S0927-0248(97)00207-9 ↗
86. D. Schmid, M. Ruckh, F. Grunwald, H.W. Schock, J. Appl. Phys. 73, 2902 (1993)10.1063/1.353020 ↗
87. A. Kylner, J. Appl. Phys. 85, 6858 (1999)10.1063/1.370204 ↗
88. D. Abou-Ras, G. Kostorz, A. Romeo, D. Rudmann, A.N. Tiwari, Thin Solid Films 480–481, 118 (2005)10.1016/j.tsf.2004.11.033 ↗
89. J.C.W. Ho, T. Zhang, K.K. Lee, S.K. Batabyal, A.I.Y. Tok, L.H. Wong, A.C.S. Appl, Mater. Interfaces 6, 6638 (2014)10.1021/am500317m ↗
90. M.A. Hossain, T. Zhang, L.K. Keat, X. Li, R.R. Prabhakar, S.K. Batabyal, S.G. Mhaisalkar, L.H. Wong, J. Mater. Chem. A 3, 4147 (2015)10.1039/C4TA05783J ↗
91. T. Ashrafee, K. Aryal, G. Rajan, S. Karki, V. Ranjan, A. Rockett, R. W. Collins and S. Marsillac, Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovolt. Spec. Conf. 1418 (2016).10.1109/PVSC.2016.7749849 ↗
92. T.M. Hsieh, S.J. Lue, J. Ao, Y. Sun, W.S. Feng, L.B. Chang, J. Power Sources 246, 443 (2014)10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.07.090 ↗
93. W.J. Lee, H.J. Yu, J.H. Wi, D.H. Cho, W.S. Han, J. Yoo, Y. Yi, J.H. Song, Y.D. Chung, A.C.S. Appl, Mater. Interfaces 8, 22151 (2016)10.1021/acsami.6b05005 ↗
94. T. Nakada, M. Mizutani, Jpn. J. Appl. Physics 41, L165 (2002)10.1143/JJAP.41.L165 ↗
95. T. Okamoto, H. Komaki, J. Sasano, S. Niki, M. Izaki, Energy Procedia 60, 43 (2014)10.1016/j.egypro.2014.12.340 ↗
96. T. Kobayashi, Z.J.L. Kao, T. Nakada, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 143, 159 (2015)10.1016/j.solmat.2015.06.044 ↗
97. J. Sun, V. Nalla, M. Nguyen, Y. Ren, S.Y. Chiam, Y. Wang, K.F. Tai, H. Sun, N. Zheludev, S.K. Batabyal, L.H. Wong, Sol. Energy 115, 396 (2015)10.1016/j.solener.2015.03.008 ↗
98. X. Lin, H. Li, F. Qu, H. Gu, W. Wang, Sol. Energy 171, 130 (2018)10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.070 ↗
99. J. Hong, D. Lim, Y.J. Eo, C. Choi, Appl. Surf. Sci. 432, 250 (2018)10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.09.133 ↗
100. J. Kim, C.R. Lee, V.K. Arepalli, S.J. Kim, W.J. Lee, Y.D. Chung, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 105, 104729 (2020)10.1016/j.mssp.2019.104729 ↗