Abstract: 

The semiconductor material kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS)  is comparable with the more traditional thin film solar cell material Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGSe) whilst having only earth-abundant and environmentally friendly constituents. Good progress has been made over the past few years and the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.1% for CZTS and 12.6% for Se-incorporated CZTS (CZTSSe) solar cells have been reported. However, this efficiency is still far below that of well-developed CIGSe solar cells. The main device performance loss is caused by open circuit voltage deficit. The decisive differences between CIGSe and CZTS devices are absorber itself and associated interfaces. This seminar presents our recent key findings about why the interfaces are problematic and how the developed interface engineering strategies improve the CZTS device performance.

Short Biography:

Dr. XIAOJING HAO obtained her PhD in 2010 from School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at University of New South Wales Australia, where she is now a senior lecturer and leader of CZTS solar cells research group. She has been awarded ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) Research Fellow (2011-2014), ARC (Australian Research Council) DECRA (2016-2019), and “20 rising stars who will change our world” at UNSW (http://www.20risingstars.unsw.edu.au).  Her main research area is new generation low-cost, high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells, and multi-junction solar cells. She has attracted several external competitive research grants since 2011, including 6 ARC grants, 4 ARENA grants. She has published 70 peer-reviewed journal papers.