TY - GEN A1 - Bär, Marcus A1 - Schubert, Björn-Arvid A1 - Marsen, Björn A1 - Wilks, Regan G. A1 - Pookpanratana, Sujitra A1 - Blum, Monika A1 - Krause, Stefan A1 - Unold, Thomas A1 - Yang, Wan Li A1 - Weinhardt, Lothar A1 - Heske, Clemens A1 - Schock, Hans-Werner T1 - Cliff-like conduction band offset and KCN-induced recombination barrier enhancement at the CdS/Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell heterojunction N2 - The electronic structure of the CdS/Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) heterojunction was investigated by direct and inverse photoemission. The effects of a KCN etch of the CZTS absorber prior to CdS deposition on the band alignment at the respective interface were studied. We find a “cliff”-like conduction band offset at the CdS/CZTS interface independent of absorber pretreatment and a significant etch-induced enhancement of the energetic barrier for charge carrier recombination across the CdS/CZTS interface. KW - kesterite KW - thin-film solar cells KW - energy band alignment Y1 - 2011 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bär, Marcus A1 - Schubert, Björn-Arvid A1 - Marsen, Björn A1 - Wilks, Regan G. A1 - Blum, M. A1 - Krause, S. A1 - Pookpanratana, Sujitra A1 - Zhang, Y. A1 - Unold, Thomas A1 - Yang, W. A1 - Weinhardt, Lothar A1 - Heske, Clemens A1 - Schock, Hans-Werner T1 - Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers illuminated by soft x-rays T2 - Journal of Materials Research N2 - In view of the complexity of thin-film solar cells, which are comprised of a multitude of layers, interfaces, surfaces, elements, impurities, etc., it is crucial to characterize and understand the chemical and electronic structure of these components. Because of the high complexity of the Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 compound semiconductor absorber material alone, this is particularly true for kesterite-based devices. Hence, this paper reviews our recent progress in the characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films. It is demonstrated that a combination of different soft x-ray spectroscopies is an extraordinarily powerful method for illuminating the chemical and electronic material characteristics from many different perspectives, ultimately resulting in a comprehensive picture of these properties. The focus of the article will be on secondary impurity phases, electronic structure, native oxidation, and the CZTS surface composition. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2012.59 SN - 2044-5326 VL - 27 IS - 8 SP - 1097 EP - 1104 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hages, Charles J. A1 - Levcenco, Sergej A1 - Miskin, Caleb K. A1 - Alsmeier, Jan Hendrik A1 - Abou-Ras, Daniel A1 - Wilks, Regan G. A1 - Bär, Marcus A1 - Unold, Thomas A1 - Agrawal, Rakesh T1 - Improved performance of Ge-alloyed CZTGeSSe thin-film solar cells through control of elemental losses T2 - Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2442 SN - 1099-159X VL - 23 IS - 3 SP - 376 EP - 384 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bär, Marcus A1 - Schubert, Björn-Arvid A1 - Marsen, Björn A1 - Krause, Stefan A1 - Pookpanratana, Sujitra A1 - Unold, Thomas A1 - Weinhardt, Lothar A1 - Heske, Clemens A1 - Schock, Hans-Werner T1 - Impact of KCN etching on the chemical and electronic surface structure of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers N2 - The chemical and electronic surface structure of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers has been investigated by direct and inverse photoemission. Particular emphasis was placed on the impact of KCN etching, which significantly alters the surface composition and is best explained by a preferred etching of Cu and, to a lesser degree, Sn. As a consequence the surface band gap increased from (1.53 +/- 0.15) eV, which agrees with optically derived bulk band gap values, to (1.91 +/- 0.15) ev. KW - kesterite KW - thin-film solar cells KW - electronic surface structure Y1 - 2011 ER -