Enhancement of optical, morphological and electronic properties of MoS2 thin film by annealing to improve the performance of silicon solar cells

In this study, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanostructures were prepared on glass substrates using spray pyrolysis. Some of the prepared samples were annealed at 500 degrees C under argon gas in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) furnace and others in the atmospheric oven for 60 min. After preparing the samples, the samples were characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometry, Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to verify their optical and structural properties. Next, the relatively high transparency of the films prepared was observed through the transmission spectrum of the samples. After annealing, the optical bandgap of the films decreased from 1.83 to 1.81 eV suggesting the creation of single-layer and few-layer of MoS2 nanocrystals and because of the two exciton peaks generated by the K point in the Brillouin zone of MoS2. Performance of the silicon photovoltaic cells assisted by MoS2 layers were investigated via a solar simulator. The Current-Voltage characteristics verified that the silicon solar cell conversion efficiency was enhanced by MoS2 deposited layer. The cell with the MoS2 layer that was annealed at 500 degrees C in Ar gas environment showed the highest efficiency of 11.9%.