Evidence for Self-healing Benign Grain Boundaries and a Highly Defective Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>-CdS Interfacial Layer in Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> Thin-Film Photovoltaics


Williams, Rhys E, Ramasse, Quentin M, McKenna, Keith P, Phillips, Laurie J ORCID: 0000-0001-5181-1565, Yates, Peter J, Hutter, Oliver S, Durose, Ken ORCID: 0000-0003-1183-3211, Major, Jonathan D ORCID: 0000-0002-5554-1985 and Mendis, Budhika G (2020) Evidence for Self-healing Benign Grain Boundaries and a Highly Defective Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>-CdS Interfacial Layer in Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> Thin-Film Photovoltaics. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 12 (19). pp. 21730-21738.

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Abstract

The crystal structure of Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> gives rise to unique properties that cannot otherwise be achieved with conventional thin-film photovoltaic materials, such as CdTe or Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub>2</sub>. It has previously been proposed that grain boundaries can be made benign provided only the weak van der Waals forces between the (Sb<sub>4</sub>Se<sub>6</sub>)<i><sub>n</sub></i> ribbons are disrupted. Here, it is shown that non-radiative recombination is suppressed even for grain boundaries cutting across the (Sb<sub>4</sub>Se<sub>6</sub>)<i><sub>n</sub></i> ribbons. This is due to a remarkable self-healing process, whereby atoms at the grain boundary can relax to remove any electronic defect states within the band gap. Grain boundaries can, however, impede charge transport due to the fact that carriers have a higher mobility along the (Sb<sub>4</sub>Se<sub>6</sub>)<i><sub>n</sub></i> ribbons. Because of the ribbon misorientation, certain grain boundaries can effectively block charge collection. Furthermore, it is shown that CdS is not a suitable emitter to partner Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> due to Sb and Se interdiffusion. As a result, a highly defective Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> interfacial layer is formed that potentially reduces device efficiency through interface recombination.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Sb2Se3 photovoltaics, grain texture, Kirkendall voids, grain boundary relaxation, Sb2Se3-CdS interface
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 01 May 2020 09:56
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2023 11:37
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c03690
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3084580
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