Preparation and characterization of polycrystalline RF sputtered CdTe thin films for PV application

Author

Abou-Elfotouh, F. ; Soliman, M. ; Riad, A.E. ; Al-Jassim, M. ; Coutts, T.

Author_Institution

Nat. Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO, USA

fYear

1991

fDate

7-11 Oct 1991

Firstpage

1109

Abstract

CdTe films were sputter deposited from a CdTe target using a 2 in RF planar magnetron S-gun system that minimizes electron bombardment of the film surface. The as-grown films were polycrystalline and consisted of a close-packed array of preferentially oriented single-crystal grains of 0.5-2.0 μm in size. Most grains were oriented with their [100], [110], and [111] axes aligned perpendicularly to the substrate surface. After heat treatment, the carrier concentrations were 10¹⁶-10 ¹⁸ cm^-3, and lifetimes were approximately 10^-10 s. CdS/CdTe heterojunction devices were prepared using RF-sputtered CdTe polycrystalline film. A conversion efficiency of 6.7% was measured

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; p-n heterojunctions; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; sputtered coatings; sputtering; 0.5 to 2 micron; 6.7 percent; CdS-CdTe solar cells; RF sputter deposition; carrier concentrations; carrier lifetime; heat treatment; heterojunction; planar magnetron S-gun; polycrystalline; preferentially oriented single-crystal grains; semiconductor thin films; substrate; Electrons; Heat treatment; Heterojunctions; Magnetic semiconductors; Optical films; Radio frequency; Semiconductor thin films; Sputtering; Substrates; Surface treatment;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV

Print_ISBN

0-87942-636-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1991.169383

Filename

169383