CHTS/Zn2P3-based solar cells with enhanced efficiency through ETL engineering: A numerical study

Abstract

Copper Mercury Tin Sulfide (CHTS) solar cells have shown a promising performance in the field of photovoltaic energy conversion with a bandgap range between 1.0 eV and 1.5 eV. However, further improvement is required to enhance the efficiency of CHTS SCs. In our study, we conducted Numerical simulation of the investigation of the effect of different buffer layers and a Zn2P3 back-surface field (BSF) layer on the effectiveness of CHTS SCs using the SCAPS-1D Programming. Initially, we optimized the basic structure of a CHTS SC without a BSF layer. We evaluated three different buffer layers (GaN, In0.4Ga0.6N, and In0.65Ga0.35N) as potential insulating layers. GaN was found to be the optimal buffer strata, with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.89%. Next, we proposed a new device structure with a Zn2P3 BSF layer. The BSF layer was found to have a positive effect on cell effectiveness, increasing the PCE to 21.16%. We further investigated the effect of different input variables, such as carrier concentration, fault density, and thickness of the absorbed strata on the achievement of both apparatus structures, with and without the BSF layer. Our results showed that the device structure with the Zn2P3 BSF layer achieved a maximum PCE of 23.79%, which is significantly higher than the PCE of the apparatus structure in case of the absence of the BSF strata. This improvement in PCE is due to the reduced reassemble of the charge transporters behind the interface and the improved light absorption in the CHTS layer. Overall, our numeral conclusion suggests that the use of CHTS/GaN-based solar photovoltaic cell design with a Zn2P3. The BSF layer is considered an ideal choice for high-performance solar cells (SCs).