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Control of the phase evolution of kesterite by tuning of the selenium partial pressure for solar cells with 13.8% certified efficiency

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 526–535 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The control of the phase evolution during the selenization of kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) is crucial for efficient solar cells. Here, we regulate the phase-evolution kinetics of Ag-alloyed CZTSSe by applying a positive pressure in the reaction chamber at the initial stage of the annealing process. The partial pressure of Se decreases, reducing the collision probability between selenium molecules and the kesterite precursor during the initial formation of the crystals. This results in the precursor transforming into CZTSSe in a single step, without the formation of secondary phases. CZTSSe forms at relatively higher temperature than conventional methods, leading to high-crystallinity kesterite films with fewer defects. We demonstrate solar cells with a total area efficiency of 14.1% and a certified total area efficiency of 13.8%. This work provides insights into the selenization mechanism and phase evolution of kesterite absorbers, enabling efficient solar cells.

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Fig. 1: The method to regulate the kinetic process of phase evolution and the resulting solar cell performance.
Fig. 2: Influence of chamber pressure on the kinetic process of phase evolution.
Fig. 3: Influence of chamber pressure on kesterite morphology.
Fig. 4: Surface state and defect properties.
Fig. 5: Performance of photovoltaic devices.

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All data generated or analysed in this study are included in the published article, its Supplementary Information and Source data files. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

Q.M. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number U2002216). J.S. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 52222212). H.W. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 51972332). Y.L. acknowledges funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 52172261).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jiazheng Zhou, Xiao Xu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Renewable Energy Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, P. R. China

    Jiazheng Zhou, Xiao Xu, Huijue Wu, Jinlin Wang, Licheng Lou, Kang Yin, Jiangjian Shi, Yanhong Luo, Dongmei Li & Qingbo Meng

  2. School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China

    Jiazheng Zhou, Xiao Xu, Jinlin Wang, Licheng Lou, Kang Yin, Yanhong Luo, Dongmei Li & Qingbo Meng

  3. State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, P. R. China

    Yuancai Gong & Hao Xin

  4. Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, P. R. China

    Yanhong Luo, Dongmei Li & Qingbo Meng

  5. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China

    Qingbo Meng

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Contributions

The manuscript was written through contribution of all authors, and all authors have approved the final version of the manuscript. Q.M., H.X., D.L.: supervision, discussion, writing-review and editing. J.Z. and X.X.: experiments, simulation, characterization, writing-original draft. H.W.: discussion, Se partial pressure and IPCE measurement. J.W., L.L., K.Y., Y.G.: data analyses and discussion. J.S.: discussion, m-TPC/TPV analyses. Y.L.: data analyses.

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Correspondence to Dongmei Li, Hao Xin or Qingbo Meng.

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Nature Energy thanks Xiaojing Hao, Fangyang Liu and Jin-Kyu Kang for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Notes 1–8, Figs. 1–27, Tables 1–4 and Refs. 1–6.

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Statistical source data.

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Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical photovoltaic parameters.

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Unprocessed J–V curves and EQE data.

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Zhou, J., Xu, X., Wu, H. et al. Control of the phase evolution of kesterite by tuning of the selenium partial pressure for solar cells with 13.8% certified efficiency. Nat Energy 8, 526–535 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01251-6

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