Large band curvature at SnS interface opens door to high-efficiency thin film solar cells – ScienceDaily

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As the push for carbon neutrality increases, and as the alarming trend of rising temperatures and natural disasters caused by global warming continues, solar cells will play a pivotal role in the world’s transition to renewable energy.

Now, a research group has set the path for achieving higher open circuit voltages in tin sulfide (SnS) solar cells, thus realizing their latent potential as thin film solar materials.

Thin-film solar cells, which are composed of composite semiconductors with strong light absorption, require less raw materials, making them lighter and cheaper to produce.

SnS is one of the thin film solar cell materials with environmentally friendly credentials, as it contains no trace or toxic elements. However, in recent years, researchers have begun to question this hypothesis because despite more than 20 years of research into this hypothesis, their conversion efficiency has only reached 5% due to the low open circuit voltage.

The group, led by Assistant Professor Issei Suzuki, of the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Advanced Materials at Tohoku University, has successfully demonstrated a SnS interface that exhibits large band bending—which is necessary to obtain higher open-circuit voltages.

“We used photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze the electronic structure of the interface as molybdenum oxide is deposited on an SnS single crystal,” said Suzuki. “We confirmed that the interface state achieved a high open circuit voltage.”

This isn’t Suzuki’s first breakthrough in SnS thin-film solar cells either. Back in December 2021, he led another batch that produced the world’s first SnS thin film. This enabled the formation of homodimers in thin films.

For the current research, the group also proposed a method to fabricate interfaces suitable for SnS thin-film solar cells, including reducing the sulfur deficiency in SnS thin films and using a homogeneous structure in their n-type and p-type layers.

“In the near future, we hope to manufacture monolithic solar cells with high conversion efficiency,” added Suzuki.

Story source:

Materials Introduction of Tohoku University. Note: Content can be modified by style and length.

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