Optimization of electrical and optical properties of tin sulfide for thin film photovoltaics using SCAPS

Abstract

Tin sulfide (SnS), being a binary metal chalcogenide, can be a potential absorber material for the thin film photovoltaics because of its optimum direct bandgap (1.3 eV) and high absorption coefficient (>104 cm-1). In the present work, the electrical and optical properties of SnS thin film solar cells have been optimized and analyzed by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). The effect of thickness and optical band gap of SnS absorber layer on the J-V curve have been investigated to obtain better device performance. The maximum photovoltaic (PV) efficiency achieved by the PV device is 22.3 % with VOC = 756 mV, JSC = 34.9 mAcm-2 and FF = 84.4 %. The VOC value is higher than the reported values for kesterite CZTSSe absorber based solar cells. Consequently, the SnS can be a potential contender for the contemporary thin film solar cells.