Analysis of lead free CsSnBr<sub>3</sub> based perovskite solar cells utilizing numerical modeling
Shazia Akhtar Dar, Brajendra S. Sengar
Abstract
Abstract In this study, we propose several CsSnBr 3 -based PSC configurations using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D), incorporating various efficient Electron transport layers (ETLs) such as TiO 2 , PCBM, WS 2 , SnO 2 , ZnO, IGZO, C 60 , and Hole transport layers (HTLs) like CBTS, CFTS, CuO, CuI, Spiro-OMeTAD, PEDOT:PSS, P3HT, CuSbS 2 , CuSCN, and Cu 2 O. Numerical simulation results reveal that the device structure ITO/WS 2 /CsSnBr 3 /Cu 2 O/Au exhibits outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE), retaining the closest photovoltaic parameter values among 70 different configurations. In this configuration, WS 2 served as the ETL, and Cu 2 O acted as the HTL. This device achieved an outstanding peak PCE of 20.02%. It also boasted a high open circuit voltage (V oc ) of 1.23 V, a short circuit current density (J sc ) of 19.32 mA cm −2 , and an impressive fill factor (FF) of 84.18%. In comparison, devices utilizing materials like TiO 2 , PCBM, SnO 2 , ZnO, IGZO, and C 60 yielded PCE values of 19.72, 19.73, 19.72, 19.73, 19.72, and 15.60%, respectively. Furthermore, for the seven best-performing configurations, we investigated the effects of CsSnBr 3 absorber thickness, absorber-acceptor doping density (N A ), conduction band offset (CBO), ETL doping density (N D ), Capacitance–Voltage (C-V), Mott–Schottky (M-S) characteristics, generation and recombination rates, series resistance (R se ), shunt resistance (R sh ), temperature, current–voltage characteristics (J-V), and quantum efficiency (QE) on performance metrics. Our findings indicate that all seven ETLs, when combined with Cu 2 O HTL, can serve as excellent materials for fabricating high-efficiency CsSnBr 3 -based PSCs with the ITO/ETL/CsSnBr 3 /Cu 2 O/Au structure. To validate our results, we compared the simulation outcomes obtained with SCAPS-1D for the best seven CsSnBr 3 -PSC configurations with previously published research works. This comprehensive simulation study opens a promising avenue for the cost-effective production of high-performance, lead-free CsSnBr 3 -based PSCs, contributing to a greener and pollution-free environment.