Boosting V OC of antimony chalcogenide solar cells: A review on interfaces and defects

Abstract

Antimony chalcogenides, including Sb 2 S 3 , Sb 2 Se 3 , and Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 , have been developed as attractive non‐toxic and earth‐abundant solar absorber candidates among the thin‐film photovoltaic devices. Presently, a record certified power conversion efficiency of 10.5% has been demonstrated for antimony chalcogenide solar cells, which is significantly lower than that of Cu 2 (In,Ga)Se 2 (23.35%) and CdTe (22.1%) thin‐film solar cells. The inferior performance in antimony chalcogenide solar cells is mainly owing to a large open‐circuit voltage (V OC ) deficit resulted from the defect and interface‐assisted recombination. Herein, a comprehensive review on the recent advancements interface band alignment and defect passivation are carried out. This review will provide a solid understanding on the interfaces and defects of antimony chalcogenide solar cells, which is beneficial to the research and development of such kind of solar cells.