SiOxNy back-contact barriers for CZTSe thin-film solar cells

The formation of molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) is widely observed at the back-contact interface for copper zinc tin selenide (CZTSe) thin-film solar cells. Depending on individual selenium (Se) supply and thermal conditions for forming CZTSe absorbers on molybdenum (Mo) substrates, the thickness of MoSe2 can vary from a few hundreds of nanometers up to ≈ 1 μm, which is comparable to the commonly adopted thickness of 1 ~ 1.5 μm for CZTSe absorbers. In this study, for controlling the thickness of interfacial MoSe2, thin diffusion barrier layers of silicon oxynitride (SiOxNy) are deposited onto Mo layers prior to the growth of CZTSe absorbers in the fabrication process. As a result, a reduction in the thicknesses of MoSe2 layers is achieved. In terms of energy conversion efficiency (η), CZTSe solar cells grown on Mo/SiOxNy back contacts suffer a deterioration as the SiOxNy layers get thicker. CZTSe solar cells grown on Mo/SiOxNy/Mo back contacts preserve their efficiencies at ≈ 11% with thin 10 nm SiOxNy layers.