Preparation of ZnS thin films and ZnS/p-Si heterojunction solar cells

The morphology, optical and composition properties of Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films prepared by thermal evaporation method were investigated. The as-deposited ZnS thin films exhibited good smoothness and showed (1 1 1) preferential orientation. The atomic concentrations of Zn = 49.98% and S = 50.02% were calculated from the XPS spectrum. Band-gap of 3.72 eV was deduced from the optical transmittance spectra. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the hydrogen doped AZO (HAZO)/ZnS/textured p-Si heterojunction solar cells was η = 8.83%, which is the best so far to our knowledge. The solar cell without encapsulation exhibited no degradation for more than 2400 h, indicating the good stability of the device.