Performance analysis of zirconium sulfide (ZrS₂) as a buffer layer for Sb₂Se₃ solar cells: numerical modeling

Abstract

The material Sb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> Se<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf> is a promising choice as an absorption layer for solar thin-film devices thanks to its low cost, non-toxicity, earth abundance, and economic viability. This study proposes the use of zirconium sulfide $\left(\mathrm{ZrS}_{2}\right)$ as an electron transport layer (ETL) for Sb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> Se<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf>-based solar cells, as it is also costeffective and efficient. We carried out the performance of $\mathrm{Al}-\mathrm{ZnO} / \mathrm{ZrS}_{2} / \mathrm{Sb}_{2} \mathrm{Se}_{3}$ thin films using the solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS). The effect of the carrier density and thickness of various layers constituting our solar cell has been investigated. The best efficiency achieved with the studied structure is $\mathbf{2 9 . 1 3 \%}$ at ambient temperature. Based on our analysis, it can be deduced that ZrS<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> appears to be a viable option as a buffer layer for photovoltaic devices when combined with an absorber layer of $\mathbf{S b}_{2} \mathrm{Se}_{3}$.