Investigation of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cells with carrier concentration gradient

• The carrier concentration gradient CZTS solar cells were studied by numerical method.
• The carrier concentration gradient CZTS solar cells show improved photovoltaic properties.
• The solar cells with different carrier concentration profiles were analyzed.
• The effects of defect density on the carrier concentration gradient CZTS solar cells were studied.

To investigate the effect of carrier concentration gradient on Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells, the properties of CZTS solar cells were studied by numerical method. The photovoltaic performances of carrier concentration gradient CZTS solar cells were calculated by the solutions of Poisson's equation, continuity equation, and current density equation using AFors-Het v2.4 program. The carrier concentration gradient was changed to analyze its effect. Compared with CZTS solar cells without carrier concentration gradient, the photovoltaic performances of CZTS solar cells can be enhanced by using carrier concentration gradient absorber. The carrier concentration gradient can extend the distribution region of built-in electric field, which is beneficial to the drift of photo-generated carriers. However, the carrier concentration gradient also affects the recombination and series resistances of solar cells. When the defect density of CZTS layer is high, the photo-generated carriers are affected significantly by recombination, resulting in slight effect of carrier concentration gradient. Therefore, the defect density should be reduced to enhance the effect of carrier concentration gradient on improving conversion efficiency of CZTS thin-film solar cells.