Publications

Energy Materials Laboratory

Publications

Thin film solar cell with 8.4% power conversion efficiency using an earth-abundant Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber
Authors
B. Shin, Y. Zhu, O. Gunawan, N.A. Bojarczuk, S.J. Chey, S. Guha
Journal
Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Vol
21
Page
72 (2013)
Year
Before KAIST

Using vacuum process, we fabricated Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells with 8.4% efficiency, a number independently certified by an external, accredited laboratory. This is the highest efficiency reported for pure sulfide Cu2ZnSnS4 prepared by any method. Consistent with literature, the optimal composition is Cu-poor and Zn-rich despite the precipitation of secondary phases (e.g., ZnS). Despite a very thin absorber thickness (~600 nm), a reasonably good short-circuit current was obtained. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements suggest a minority carrier-diffusion length on the order of several hundreds of nanometers and relatively good collection of photo-carriers across the entire absorber thickness.