Numerical Simulation of Graphene/Silicon Solar Cells Using CuSCN as an Inorganic Interface Layer

Interface engineering is one of the effective methods to improve the performance of graphene/silicon heterojunction solar cells, but until now the interface layer materials suffer from the problems of high price and poor stability. In this paper, the performance of graphene/silicon solar cells was studied via AFORS-HET software. An inorganic interface layer of CuSCN was adopted to reduce the cost and improving the performance and stability of the solar cells. The role of the CuSCN interface layer as well as the effects of the hole mobility of the CuSCN layer and the valence band offset of the CuSCN/n-Si on the performance of solar cells were investigated. The results show that the introduction of the CuSCN interface layer and the increase of the hole mobility of the CuSCN layer are beneficial to improving the photovoltaic performance of the devices. When the valence band offset of the CuSCN/n-Si interface is greater than -0.1 eV, the CuSCN layer can act as the electron-blocking and hole-transporting layer. Particularly, when the valence band offset of the CuSCN/n-Si interface is equal to 0.2 eV, the graphene/CuSCN/silicon heterojunction solar cell model can achieve the best photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 25.8%. This study helps to reveal the effect of various factors on the performance of the graphene/CuSCN/Si solar cells, and provides a solution for the preparation of low-cost and high-efficiency graphene/silicon solar cells. © 2021, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.