Iron pyrite (FeS2) is a promising photovoltaic material that has vast elemental abundance, a 0.95eV band gap, and an absorption coefficient exceeding 105cm-1. To date, pyrite devices have suffered from low open circuit voltages (Voc) that hinder their device performance. By fabricating high quality, phase pure materials, sulfur deficiencies and other surface and bulk defects may be eliminated, thereby increasing the Voc. In this talk, I describe a hydrazine-free solution-based process using elemental iron and sulfur dissolved in organic solvents for making pyrite thin films. Deposited films are annealed in both hydrogen sulfide and sulfur vapor atmospheres. The films are fully characterized to study their phase and elemental composition, morphology, optical and electrical properties. They consist of pure phase pyrite and contain a pinhole-free network of well connected, 300nm sized grains. These films are being used as absorber layers in our ongoing efforts to produce efficient heterojunction solar cells.

Hydrazine-free molecular inks for iron pyrite (FeS<sub>2</sub>) thin-film photovoltaics

245th National Meeting (2013)

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Hydrazine-free molecular inks for iron pyrite (FeS2) thin-film photovoltaics

Hydrazine-free molecular inks for iron pyrite (FeS₂) thin-film photovoltaics