Modern Processing and Insights on Selenium Solar Cells: The World's First Photovoltaic Device

Ido Hadar; Tze Bin Song; Weijun Ke; Mercouri G. Kanatzidis

doi:10.1002/aenm.201802766

Modern Processing and Insights on Selenium Solar Cells: The World's First Photovoltaic Device

Ido Hadar, Tze Bin Song, Weijun Ke, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

65 Scopus citations

Abstract

The first solid-state solar cells, fabricated ≈140 years ago, were based on selenium; these early studies initiated the modern research on photovoltaic materials. Selenium shows high absorption coefficient and mobility, making it an attractive absorber for high bandgap thin film solar cells. Moreover, the simplicity of a single element absorber, its low-temperature processing, and intrinsic environmental stability enable the utilization of selenium in extremely cheap and scalable solar cells. In this paper, a detailed study of selenium solar cell fabrication is presented, and the key factors that affect the selenium film morphology and the resulting device efficiency are presented. Specifically, the crystallization process from amorphous film into functional crystalline device is studied. The importance of controlling the process is shown, and methods to align the growth orientation are suggested. Finally, the crystallization process under illumination, which has general importance for the fabrication of thin film photovoltaics, is investigated. Specifically for selenium, the illumination significantly improves the film morphology and leads to device efficiency of 5.2%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.911 V, short-circuit current density of 10.2 mA cm ⁻² , and fill factor of 55.0%. These findings form a solid foundation for future improvements of the photovoltaic material and device architecture.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1802766
Journal	Advanced Energy Materials
Volume	9
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201802766
State	Published - Apr 25 2019

Funding

This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DESC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program—training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions. This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program?training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions.

Keywords

photovoltaic devices
selenium
solar cells
thin films

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Materials Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1002/aenm.201802766

Cite this

@article{913303b2e6e94083805ddb7b070d5164,

title = "Modern Processing and Insights on Selenium Solar Cells: The World's First Photovoltaic Device",

abstract = " The first solid-state solar cells, fabricated ≈140 years ago, were based on selenium; these early studies initiated the modern research on photovoltaic materials. Selenium shows high absorption coefficient and mobility, making it an attractive absorber for high bandgap thin film solar cells. Moreover, the simplicity of a single element absorber, its low-temperature processing, and intrinsic environmental stability enable the utilization of selenium in extremely cheap and scalable solar cells. In this paper, a detailed study of selenium solar cell fabrication is presented, and the key factors that affect the selenium film morphology and the resulting device efficiency are presented. Specifically, the crystallization process from amorphous film into functional crystalline device is studied. The importance of controlling the process is shown, and methods to align the growth orientation are suggested. Finally, the crystallization process under illumination, which has general importance for the fabrication of thin film photovoltaics, is investigated. Specifically for selenium, the illumination significantly improves the film morphology and leads to device efficiency of 5.2%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.911 V, short-circuit current density of 10.2 mA cm −2 , and fill factor of 55.0%. These findings form a solid foundation for future improvements of the photovoltaic material and device architecture.",

keywords = "photovoltaic devices, selenium, solar cells, thin films",

author = "Ido Hadar and Song, {Tze Bin} and Weijun Ke and Kanatzidis, {Mercouri G.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DESC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University{\textquoteright}s NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program—training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions. Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program?training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1002/aenm.201802766",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Hadar, Ido

AU - Song, Tze Bin

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AU - Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DESC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program—training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions. Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the LEAP Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award No. DE-SC0001059. APS measurements were carried out with equipment acquired by ONR Grant No. N00014-18-1-2102. This work made use of the EPIC Facility of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work made use of the Jerome B. Cohen X-ray Diffraction Facility supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University and the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205.) I.H. acknowledges postdoctoral fellowship support from the Israeli Ministry of Energy, under the program?training of academic personnel in energy-related fields at leading international institutions. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

PY - 2019/4/25

Y1 - 2019/4/25

N2 - The first solid-state solar cells, fabricated ≈140 years ago, were based on selenium; these early studies initiated the modern research on photovoltaic materials. Selenium shows high absorption coefficient and mobility, making it an attractive absorber for high bandgap thin film solar cells. Moreover, the simplicity of a single element absorber, its low-temperature processing, and intrinsic environmental stability enable the utilization of selenium in extremely cheap and scalable solar cells. In this paper, a detailed study of selenium solar cell fabrication is presented, and the key factors that affect the selenium film morphology and the resulting device efficiency are presented. Specifically, the crystallization process from amorphous film into functional crystalline device is studied. The importance of controlling the process is shown, and methods to align the growth orientation are suggested. Finally, the crystallization process under illumination, which has general importance for the fabrication of thin film photovoltaics, is investigated. Specifically for selenium, the illumination significantly improves the film morphology and leads to device efficiency of 5.2%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.911 V, short-circuit current density of 10.2 mA cm −2 , and fill factor of 55.0%. These findings form a solid foundation for future improvements of the photovoltaic material and device architecture.

AB - The first solid-state solar cells, fabricated ≈140 years ago, were based on selenium; these early studies initiated the modern research on photovoltaic materials. Selenium shows high absorption coefficient and mobility, making it an attractive absorber for high bandgap thin film solar cells. Moreover, the simplicity of a single element absorber, its low-temperature processing, and intrinsic environmental stability enable the utilization of selenium in extremely cheap and scalable solar cells. In this paper, a detailed study of selenium solar cell fabrication is presented, and the key factors that affect the selenium film morphology and the resulting device efficiency are presented. Specifically, the crystallization process from amorphous film into functional crystalline device is studied. The importance of controlling the process is shown, and methods to align the growth orientation are suggested. Finally, the crystallization process under illumination, which has general importance for the fabrication of thin film photovoltaics, is investigated. Specifically for selenium, the illumination significantly improves the film morphology and leads to device efficiency of 5.2%, with open-circuit voltage of 0.911 V, short-circuit current density of 10.2 mA cm −2 , and fill factor of 55.0%. These findings form a solid foundation for future improvements of the photovoltaic material and device architecture.

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KW - selenium

KW - solar cells

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Modern Processing and Insights on Selenium Solar Cells: The World's First Photovoltaic Device

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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