Kesterite tech news
Researchers published a study in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds introducing an ultrathin tin monosulfide (SnS) barrier interlayer to enhance kesterite (CZTSSe) thin--film solar cells. While kesterites represent an earth--abundant and non--toxic alternative to cadmium telluride (CdTe) and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) photovoltaics, commercial efficiency targets have been impeded by deep interface recombination and severe compositional inhomogeneity during crystallization. The introduction of the ultrathin SnS interlayer acts as a functional barrier that effectively passivates harmful defects, restricts secondary phase formation, and promotes uniform elemental distribution across the kesterite absorber layer. This interface modification significantly mitigates open--circuit voltage deficits and improves carrier collection efficiency, establishing a viable, low--cost processing strategy for scalable thin--film photovoltaic production.