A Novel Method for Preparation of Zn-Doped CuInS2 Solar Cells and Their Photovoltaic Performance

In this study, a novel method was proposed to synthesize high quality Zn-doped CuInS₂ nanocrystals under high frequency magnetic field at ambient conditions. The magnetic Zn-doping gave superparamagnetic heating of the resulting nanocrystals via magnetic induction, causing an accelerating growth rate of the doped CuInS₂ under ambient conditions faster than conventional autoclave synthesis. Shape evolution of the Zn-doped CuInS₂ nanocrystals from initially spherical to pyramidal, to cubic, and finally to a bar geometry was detected as a function of time of exposure to magnetic induction. These colloidal solvents with different shaped nanocrystals were further used as "nanoink" to fabricate a simple thin film solar device; the best efficiency we obtained of these crystals was 1.01% with a 1.012 μm thickness absorber layer (bar geometry). The efficiency could be promoted to 1.44% after the absorber was thickened to 2.132 μm.