UV-ozone induced surface passivation to enhance the performance of Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells

Interface property has been considered one of the most critical factors affecting the performance of semiconductor devices. In this work, we demonstrate an efficient surface passivation for the interface between Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and CdS buffer layer by using UV-ozone treatment at room temperature. The passivation led to a significant enhancement of short circuit current density (J(sc)) of the device from 11.70 mA/cm(2) to 18.34 mA/cm2 and thus efficiency of the CZTS solar cells from 3.18% to 5.55%. The study of surface chemistry has revealed that the UV-ozone exposure led to formation of a Sn-O rich surface on CZTS, which passivates the dangling bonds and forms an ultra-thin energy barrier layer at the interface of CZTS/CdS. The barrier is considered to be responsible for the reduction of non-radiative recombination loss in the solar cells as confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) measurement. The elongated lifetime of minority carriers in the CZTS solar cells by time resolved PL has further verified the interface passivation effect induced by UV-ozone treatment. This work provides a fast, simple yet very effective approach for surface passivation of CZTS film to boost the performance of CZTS solar cells.