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Analysis of Cs₂AgInBr₆-Based Double

Perovskite Solar Cell Using SCAPS-1D
Sadia Anjum Esha, MSc Student, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ahsanullah
University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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Abstract—This work focuses on the lead-free double perovskite

solar cell based on Cs₂AgInBr₆ as the absorber layer.
Parameters such as defect density, thickness, and electron affinity
were optimized using simulations by SCAPS-1D. Further,
different electron and hole transport layers (ETLs and HTLs)
were tried in order to optimize performance. After optimization,
a maximum efficiency of 26.9% was obtained. In addition,
Cs₂AgInBr₅Cl stability has been investigated, showing very
promising temperature stability. The results give further insights
into developing non-toxic highly efficient DPSCs.
Fig. 1. Device structure and band gap alignment for Cs₂AgInBr₆ based DPSC.
Index Terms—Double Perovskite Solar Cell, Electron affinity,
Defect density, Band alignment diagram, SCAPS-1D PEDOT, CuO, etc. were tried. The best performing device was
with ZnSe/CBTS as ETL and HTL respectively. This finally
I. INTRODUCTION gave a maximum PCE of 26.9%, as summarized in Table 1
Solar cell technology has advanced considerably, with and depicted in Figure 1.
Double Perovskite Solar Cells (DPSCs) presenting a viable Table 1
alternative to conventional silicon-based cells, because of their Different cell structure and their simulation results
potential for enhanced efficiency and reduced production Device structure FF VOC JSC (mA/ PCE
(%) cm2) (%)
costs. Nonetheless, issues such as defect density in absorber (V)

layers and thermal stability hamper their more extensive FTO/ZnSe/Cs2AgInBr6/CBTS/Au 83.49 1.17 27.54 26.90
FTO/ZnSe/ Cs2AgInBr6/MASnBr3/ 83.69 1.17 27.49 26.97
implementation. This study seeks to optimize the design of Au
DPSC by adjusting transport layers and improving the FTO/ZnSe/ Cs2AgInBr6/spiro- 75.57 1.17 27.44 24.34
properties of the absorber layer to enhance overall OMeTAD/Au
FTO/ZnSe/ Cs2AgInBr6/CuO/Au 88.5 0.95 27.89 22.75
performance and stability. FTO/ZnSe/ Cs2AgInBr6/PEDOT: 62.23 1.17 27.49 20.19
PSS/Au

II. DEVICE STRUCTURE AND SIMULATION PERFORMANCE FTO/IGZO/ Cs2AgInBr6/CBTS/Au 83.30 1.16 27.28 26.56
FTO/IGZO/ Cs2AgInBr6/MASnBr3/ 83.46 1.17 27.24 26.61
OF DPSCS Au
FTO/IGZO/ Cs2AgInBr6/spiro- 75.96 1.170 27.21 24.21
This work deals with double perovskite solar cells with a OMeTAD /Au
configuration of FTO/ETL/Cs₂AgInBr₆/HTL/Au. Fluorine- FTO/IGZO/ Cs2AgInBr6/CuO/Au 86.84 0.94 27.66 22.82
FTO/IGZO/ Cs2AgInBr6/PEDOT: 61.67 1.17 27.40 19.79
doped tin oxide is used in this work as a transparent PSS/Au
conductive electrode for easy light transmission, thermal FTO/TiO2/ Cs2AgInBr6/ CBTS /Au 82.22 1,17 27.52 26.50
FTO/TiO2/ Cs2AgInBr6/ MASnBr3 82.41 1.17 27.63 26.56
stability and good electrical conductivity. The electron /Au
transport layer acts to guide electrons from the absorber layer, FTO/TiO2/ Cs2AgInBr6/ spiro- 75.57 1.17 27.44 24.34
OMeTAD/Au
while the hole transport layer conducts holes to the anode.
FTO/TiO2/ Cs2AgInBr6/CuO/Au 85.04 0.95 27.89 22.55
Cs₂AgInBr₆ is a lead-free, nontoxic absorber [2] with FTO/TiO2/ Cs2AgInBr6/PEDOT: 61.61 1.17 27.63 19.99
optimized photovoltaic properties, while Au acts as a back PSS/Au

electrode.
Optimizations of some of the key parameters like thickness, IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
defect density, and electron affinity were performed using A. Effect of HTL and ETL Variation
SCAPS-1D software. The simulated parameters are power
Among others, electron transport layers and hole transport
conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, and short-circuit
layers can determine the performance of DPSCs. In this work,
current. ZnSe (ETL)/CBTS (HTL) gave a PCE of 26.9%,
three materials, namely ZnSe, IGZO, and TiO₂, were used as
which
was the highest among the combinations tried. Various
ETLs like ZnSe, IGZO, and TiO₂ and HTLs such as CBTS,

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bandgap, which improves the harvesting of ultraviolet light

and diminishes degradation by minimizing UV-light exposure
to the perovskite layer. This improved photostability makes
ZnSe an ideal choice for enhancing long-term device
performance.
The five materials that were compared for the HTL were
PEDOT, CuO, Spiro-OMeTAD, MASnBr₃, and CBTS. When
coupled with ZnSe, both MASnBr₃ and CBTS showed the
highest efficiencies with PCEs of 26.97% and 26.90%,
respectively. Since both of them gave the same efficiency,
therefore CBTS was selected for further optimization as the
optimum HTL. CBTS is a thin-film material, which shows
variable band gap [2] and excellent light absorption properties
[3] , hence it enhances the efficiency of the devices prepared
using it. It has a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure due to
effective combination of ZnSe as ETL enhances the charge
transport and overall photovoltaic performance. The best
overall PCE with ZnSe as ETL in combination with CBTS as

Fig. 4. Graph showing change in (a) PCE (b) FF (c) VOC (d) JSC as a function of
Temperature.
Fig. 3. Graph showing change in (a) PCE (b) FF (c) VOC (d) JSC as a function of
thickness.
HTL points toward their more advantageous properties in
DPSC architectures.
B. Optimization of Absorber Layer Defect Density (Nt)
In the DPSCs, the absorber layer defect density, Nt, is one of
the major factors that affect the performance. The paper
investigates the influence of variable defect density on the
power conversion efficiency of the Cs₂AgInBr₆ DPSC
through
layer defect density varies in steps of 101 while the thickness
of the absorber layer is kept constant at 600 nm. The results
showed that efficiency decreases with the increase in defect
density. At lower defect densities, the efficiency was constant
and gave a maximum PCE of 37.21% at 1010 cm-3. Beyond
batch simulations using the SCAPS-1D program. The absorber
that, further degradation happened very rapidly, and the
efficiency went to 24.65% when the defect density reached 1.3
x 1015 cm-3 and further reduced to 8.71% at 1.3 x 10 18 cm-3.
ETLs in a double perovskite solar cell device. Among these, That means that the key to high efficiency lies in keeping the
ZnSe performed better than others, mainly due to its wider defect density of the absorber layer to a minimum, since the
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higher this is, the greater the recombination losses, with results
in poorer performance in the device [4]. Figure 2 illustrates the
the relationship between PCE and defect density, indicating
explicitly the strong efficiency drop with the rise in Nt.
C.Optimization of Absorber Layer Thickness
Among the most important parameters for the efficiency
arising in DPSCs, the thickness of the absorber layer plays a
major role. In this work, the Cs₂AgInBr₆ absorber layer
thickness was changed in 100 nm steps from 100 nm to 1000
nm to study its impact on PCE. The simulation results have
shown that with the increase in thickness, the PCE first
improves because of better light absorption, which reaches the
maximum efficiency of 27.36% at 900 nm and 1000 nm. For
more than 600 nm, the efficiency improvement is slight, while
increased thickness caused larger carrier recombination,
leading to lower FF. Above 1000 nm, PCE decreased because
thicker layers could only result in higher series resistance and
more internal power dissipation. Thus, 600 nm was considered Table 3
optimal for the absorber layer thickness because efficient light
absorption would thereby minimize recombination losses.
Figure 3 plots the dependence of PCE on the thickness of the
absorber layer: this is where peak efficiency occurs at 900-
1000 nm before beginning its decline.
D.Effect of Temperature on Device Performance
Operating temperature is one of the most important
parameters in affecting the performance of double perovskite
solar cells. In the current research study, for instance,
operating temperature ranges from 200 K up to 800 K to
explore its effect on PCE, FF, and JSC. The results showed
that the maximum efficiency of 29.49% was reached at 200 K,
while at the elevated temperature, the efficiency drastically
decreased to reach its minimum PCE value of 5.86% at 800 K.
Fig. 4. Graph showing Jsc Vs Voc of the structure ITO/SnS2/ Cs2AgInBr6/MoTe2/Au
Therefore, FF increased first and reached a peak value of
85.21% at 250 K and then decreased due to the increased
interfacial defects and series resistance at high temperatures.
Figure 4 shows the variation of PCE, FF, VOC, and JSC with
respect to temperature, reflecting the adverse effect of
temperature on device performance.

V. MODIFIED STRUCTURE AND RESULT COMPARISON

A modified version of the structure has been attempted
through simulation. The changes include Tin Sulfide (SnS2), a
promising material for photonic absorption, used as ETL and
Molybdenum Telluride (MoTe2) used as HTL which holds
high charge carrier capability compared to most other HTLs.
Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) has been used instead of FTO as it
ensures better electron transportation and helps light to
transfer to the active layer due to its improved transparency.
Gold (Au), used a s back contact has a work function of 5.1
eV. The structure ITO/SnS2/ Cs2AgInBr6/MoTe2/Au follows
the parameter values according to Table 2. A significant
Results obtained from the original structure and the modified structure
improvement in the performance parameters can be noticed Structures Voc (V) Jsc (mA/ FF (%) PCE (%)
which have been compared in Table 3. cm2)
FTO/ZnSe/Cs2AgInBr6/CBTS/Au 1.17 27.54 83.49 26.90
Table 2
ITO/SnS2/ Cs2AgInBr6/MoTe2/Au 0.986 31.599 86.92 27. 08
Simulation parameters used in the modified structures
Parameters ITO [5] SnS2 [6] Cs2AgInBr6 [1] MoTe2 [7]

Thickness, 300 100 600 250

d (nm)

Band gap, 3.5 2.24 1.47 1.1

Eg (eV)
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VI. CONCLUSION
This work gives a very good possibility that Cs₂AgInBr₆
can be the absorber layer of interest in double perovskite solar
cells owing to advantages such as being lead-free and nontoxic
compared with conventional perovskites. SCAPS-1D
performed systematic simulations, optimizing the most
important parameters that would enhance PCE: defect density,
thickness of the absorber layer, and temperature. A minimum
value of the defect density was vital for high efficiency; at a
defect density of 10 cm-3, the maximum PCE could reach
37.21%. An optimal absorber thickness of 600 nm was
determined, maintaining a compromise between effective light
absorption and reduced recombination losses. It also pointed
out that the performance is temperature-dependent: maximum
efficiency is realized at low temperatures. In all, the best
arrangement of FTO/ZnSe/Cs₂AgInBr₆/CBTS/Au achieved a
PCE of 26.9%, showing the potential of the material. An
improvised version was obtained through further simulation of
the structure ITO/SnS2/ Cs2AgInBr6/MoTe2/Au which yielded
the PCE of 27.08%. Further efforts should be directed toward
practical realization and stability tests and varying parameters
so that these promising solar cell technologies may be
commercialized.

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