Strong Interplay between Sodium and Oxygen in Kesterite Absorbers: Complex Formation, Incorporation, and Tailoring Depth DistributionsShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Advanced Energy Materials, ISSN 1614-6832, E-ISSN 1614-6840, Vol. 9, no 27, article id 1900740Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Sodium and oxygen are prevalent impurities in kesterite solar cells. Both elements are known to strongly impact performance of the kesterite devices and can be connected to efficiency improvements seen after heat treatments. The sodium distribution in the kesterite absorber is commonly reported, whereas the oxygen distribution has received less attention. Here, a direct relationship between sodium and oxygen in kesterite absorbers is established using secondary ion mass spectrometry and explained by defect analyses within the density functional theory. The calculations reveal a binding energy of 0.76 eV between the substitutional defects Na-Cu and O-S in the nearest neighbor configuration, indicating an abundance of Na Symbol of the Klingon Empire O complexes in kesterite absorbers at relevant temperatures. Oxygen incorporation is studied by introducing isotopic O-18 at different stages of the Cu2ZnSnS4/Mo/soda-lime glass baseline processing. It is observed that oxygen from the Mo back contact and contaminations during the sulfurization are primary contributors to the oxygen distribution. Indeed, unintentional oxygen incorporation leads to immobilization of sodium. This results in a strong correlation between sodium and oxygen, in excellent agreement with the theoretical calculations. Consequently, oxygen availability should be monitored to optimize postdeposition heat treatments to control impurities in kesterite absorbers and ultimately, the solar cell efficiency.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH , 2019. Vol. 9, no 27, article id 1900740
Keywords [en]
defect complexes, depth distributions, kesterite, oxygen, sodium
National Category
Energy Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-392870DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201900740ISI: 000477779600002OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-392870DiVA, id: diva2:1354747
Funder
Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research The Research Council of Norway, 243642The Research Council of Norway, 245963/F50The Research Council of Norway, 2588752019-09-262019-09-262021-06-11Bibliographically approved