Premium
Trade‐Offs in Thin Film Solar Cells with Layered Chalcostibite Photovoltaic Absorbers
Author(s) -
Welch Adam W.,
Baranowski Lauryn L.,
Peng Haowei,
Hempel Hannes,
Eichberger Rainer,
Unold Thomas,
Lany Stephan,
Wolden Colin,
Zakutayev Andriy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201601935
Subject(s) - materials science , photovoltaic system , optoelectronics , absorption (acoustics) , charge carrier , semiconductor , hybrid solar cell , throughput , characterization (materials science) , thin film , energy conversion efficiency , nanotechnology , engineering physics , polymer solar cell , computer science , electrical engineering , telecommunications , composite material , wireless , engineering
Discovery of novel semiconducting materials is needed for solar energy conversion and other optoelectronic applications. However, emerging low‐dimensional solar absorbers often have unconventional crystal structures and unusual combinations of optical absorption and electrical transport properties, which considerably slows down the research and development progress. Here, the effect of stronger absorption and weaker carrier collection of 2D‐like absorber materials are studied using a high‐throughput combinatorial experimental approach, complemented by advanced characterization and computations. It is found that the photoexcited charge carrier collection in CuSbSe 2 solar cells is enhanced by drift in an electric field, addressing a different absorption/collection balance. The resulting drift solar cells efficiency is <5% due to inherent J SC / V OC trade‐off, suggesting that improved carrier diffusion and better contacts are needed to further increase the CuSbSe 2 performance. This study also illustrates the advantages of high‐throughput experimental methods for fast optimization of the optoelectronic devices based on emerging low‐dimensional semiconductor materials.