Influence of CdS/CdTe interface properties on the device properties

Author

Dhere, R. ; Rose, D. ; Albin, D. ; Asher, S. ; Al-Jassim, Mowafak ; Cheong, H. ; Swartzlander, A. ; Moutinho, H. ; Coutts, T. ; Ribelin, R. ; Sheldon, P.

Author_Institution

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

fYear

1997

fDate

29 Sep-3 Oct 1997

Firstpage

435

Lastpage

438

Abstract

In this paper, the authors have focused on the formation and the role of the CdS/CdTe interface on CdTe solar cells. The devices were made using chemical bath deposited (CBD) CdS on SnO₂/glass substrates and the CdTe was deposited by close spaced sublimation (CSS) and subsequently CdCl₂ treated and annealed. Compositional analysis showed considerable interdiffusion of Te and S as well as Cl accumulation at the interface. Micro-photoluminescence (PL) analysis reveals sulfur accumulation at the grain boundaries and a graded CdS_xTe_1-x alloy at the interface. Their analysis leads them to conclude that Cl accumulation and anion vacancies result in a one sided n⁺-p junction. This model could explain the collection loss in the CdS layer, seen in the spectral response of CdS/CdTe devices

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; annealing; cadmium compounds; p-n heterojunctions; photoluminescence; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; CdS-CdTe; CdS/CdTe solar cells; accumulation; anion vacancies; close spaced sublimation; collection loss; device properties; grain boundaries; interdiffusion; interface properties; microphotoluminescence analysis; n⁺-p junction; spectral response; Annealing; Cascading style sheets; Etching; Grain boundaries; Helium; Laboratories; Photovoltaic cells; Renewable energy resources; Temperature; Transmission electron microscopy;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1997., Conference Record of the Twenty-Sixth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3767-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1997.654121

Filename

654121