TY - JOUR
T1 - Cation disorder engineering yields AgBiS2 nanocrystals with enhanced optical absorption for efficient ultrathin solar cells
AU - Wang, Yongjie
AU - Kavanagh, Seán R.
AU - Burgués-Ceballos, Ignasi
AU - Walsh, Aron
AU - Scanlon, David
AU - Konstantatos, Gerasimos
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Strong optical absorption by a semiconductor is a highly desirable property for many optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. The optimal thickness of a semiconductor absorber is primarily determined by its absorption coefficient. To date, this parameter has been considered as a fundamental material property, and efforts to realize thinner photovoltaics have relied on light-trapping structures that add complexity and cost. Here we demonstrate that engineering cation disorder in a ternary chalcogenide semiconductor leads to considerable absorption increase due to enhancement of the optical transition matrix elements. We show that cation-disorder-engineered AgBiS2 colloidal nanocrystals offer an absorption coefficient that is higher than other photovoltaic materials, enabling highly efficient extremely thin absorber photovoltaic devices. We report solution-processed, environmentally friendly, 30-nm-thick solar cells with short-circuit current density of 27 mA cm−2, a power conversion efficiency of 9.17% (8.85% certified) and high stability under ambient conditions.
AB - Strong optical absorption by a semiconductor is a highly desirable property for many optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. The optimal thickness of a semiconductor absorber is primarily determined by its absorption coefficient. To date, this parameter has been considered as a fundamental material property, and efforts to realize thinner photovoltaics have relied on light-trapping structures that add complexity and cost. Here we demonstrate that engineering cation disorder in a ternary chalcogenide semiconductor leads to considerable absorption increase due to enhancement of the optical transition matrix elements. We show that cation-disorder-engineered AgBiS2 colloidal nanocrystals offer an absorption coefficient that is higher than other photovoltaic materials, enabling highly efficient extremely thin absorber photovoltaic devices. We report solution-processed, environmentally friendly, 30-nm-thick solar cells with short-circuit current density of 27 mA cm−2, a power conversion efficiency of 9.17% (8.85% certified) and high stability under ambient conditions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124709845&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41566-021-00950-4
DO - 10.1038/s41566-021-00950-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124709845
SN - 1749-4885
VL - 16
SP - 235
EP - 241
JO - Nature Photonics
JF - Nature Photonics
IS - 3
ER -