Photovoltaic structures using chemically deposited tin sulfide thin films

Chemically deposited thin films of tin sulfide forms in two crystalline structures depending on the bath compositions used: orthorhombic, SnS(OR), and zinc-blende, SnS(ZB). These films posses p-type electrical conductivity and have band gaps of 1.2 and 1.7 eV, respectively. The photovoltaic structure: SnO2:F/CdS/SnS (ZB)/SnS(OR) with evaporated Ag-electrode reported here shows an open circuit voltage (V-OC) of 370 mV, a short circuit current density (J(SC)) of 1.23 mA/cm(2), fill factor of 0.44 and conversion efficiency of 0.2% under 1 kW/m(2) illumination intensity. We present an evaluation for improvement in the light generated current density when the two types of SnS absorber films are used. Different evaporated electrode materials were tested, from which Ag-electrode was chosen for this work. The results given above were obtained with SnS (ZB) film of 0.1 mu m and SnS(OR) film of 0.5 mu m in thickness. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.