Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2017
We determined that the conduction band offset (CBO) and the valence band offset (VBO) at the CdS/ Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) heterointerface are +0.56 and +0.89eV, respectively, by using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and inversed photoemission spectroscopy (IPES). A positive CBO value, so-called “spike” structure, means that the position of conduction band becomes higher than that of absorber layer. The evaluated CBO of +0.56 eV suggests that the conduction band alignment at CdS/CZTSe interface is enough to become an electron barrier. Despite such a large spike structure in the conduction band at the interface, a conversion efficiency of 8.7 % could be obtained for the CdS/CZTSe heterojunction solar cells.