WS2: A New Window Layer Material for Solar Cell Application

Md Khan Sobayel Bin Rafiq; N Amin; Hamad F Alharbi; Monis Luqman; Afida Ayob; Yahya S Alharthi; Nabeel H Alharthi; Badariah Bais; Md Akhtaruzzaman

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-57596-5

WS₂: A New Window Layer Material for Solar Cell Application

Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 21;10(1):771. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-57596-5.

Authors

Md Khan Sobayel Bin Rafiq¹, N Amin^{2

3}, Hamad F Alharbi⁴, Monis Luqman⁵, Afida Ayob⁶, Yahya S Alharthi⁷, Nabeel H Alharthi⁷, Badariah Bais⁶, Md Akhtaruzzaman^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Solar Energy Research Institute, The National University of Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia.
² Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, The National University of Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. nowshad@uniten.edu.my.
³ Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (@The National Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, 43000, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. nowshad@uniten.edu.my.
⁴ Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia. harbihf@ksu.edu.sa.
⁵ Mechanical Engineering Department, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, The National University of Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁷ Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Solar Energy Research Institute, The National University of Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia. akhtar@ukm.edu.my.
⁹ Department of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, The National University of Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. akhtar@ukm.edu.my.

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used to deposit tungsten disulfide (WS₂) thin films on top of soda lime glass substrates. The deposition power of RF magnetron sputtering varied at 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 W to investigate the impact on film characteristics and determine the optimized conditions for suitable application in thin-film solar cells. Morphological, structural, and opto-electronic properties of as-grown films were investigated and analyzed for different deposition powers. All the WS₂ films exhibited granular morphology and consisted of a rhombohedral phase with a strong preferential orientation toward the (101) crystal plane. Polycrystalline ultra-thin WS₂ films with bandgap of 2.2 eV, carrier concentration of 1.01 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, and resistivity of 0.135 Ω-cm were successfully achieved at RF deposition power of 200 W. The optimized WS₂ thin film was successfully incorporated as a window layer for the first time in CdTe/WS₂ solar cell. Initial investigations revealed that the newly incorporated WS₂ window layer in CdTe solar cell demonstrated photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 1.2% with V_oc of 379 mV, J_sc of 11.5 mA/cm², and FF of 27.1%. This study paves the way for WS₂ thin film as a potential window layer to be used in thin-film solar cells.

Abstract

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