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 - Klaer, Joachim A1 - Weinhardt, Lothar A1 - Wilks, Regan G. A1 - Krause, Stefan A1 - Blum, Monika A1 - Yang, Wan Li A1 - Heske, Clemens A1 - Schock, Hans-Werner T1 - Cu 2−x S Surface Phases and Their Impact on the Electronic Structure of CuInS 2 Thin Films – A Hidden Parameter in Solar Cell Optimization T2 - Advanced Energy Materials N2 - The surface properties of CuInS 2 (CIS) thin-fi lm solar cell absorbers are investigated by a combination of electron and soft X-ray spectroscopies. Spatially separated regions of varying colors are observed and identifi ed to be dominated by either CuS or Cu 2 S surface phases. After their removal by KCN etching, the samples cannot be distinguished by eye and the CIS surface is found to be Cu-defi cient in both regions. However, a signifi cantly more pronounced off-stoichiometry in the region initially covered by Cu 2 S can be identifi ed. In this region, the resulting surface band gap is also signifi cantly larger than the E g Surf of the initially CuS-terminated region. Such variations may represent a hidden parameter which, if overlooked, induces irreproducibility and thus prevents systematic optimization efforts. Y1 - 2013 SN - 1614-6840 VL - 3 IS - 6 SP - 777 EP - 781 ER -