Application of tin-doped cadmium oxide films in CdTe/CdS solar cells

Author

Zhao, Z. ; Komin, V. ; Viswanathan, V. ; Morel, D.L. ; Ferekides, C.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

662

Lastpage

665

Abstract

Transparent conducting tin-doped cadmium oxide films (CdO:Sn) have been deposited by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at atmospheric pressure. The effects of various deposition parameters, such as the partial pressures of DMCd and TMT, and substrate temperature, on the electrical and optical properties of as-deposited films were studied. A sheet resistance of 14~17 Ω/sq was obtained for a film thickness of 125 nm. The high conductivity of the as-deposited films was due to their high carrier concentrations. The transmission of the films in the visible range (500-850 nm) was found to be high (80~95%). Both electrical and optical properties of the as-deposited films improved after annealing in H₂ or He ambient. CdTe/CdS solar cells have been fabricated using CdO:Sn as the front contact and a conversion efficiency of 14.3% has been obtained

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; MOCVD; MOCVD coatings; annealing; cadmium compounds; electrical contacts; semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor doping; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; tin; 125 mum; 14.3 percent; 500 to 850 nm; CdO:Sn; CdTe-CdS; CdTe-CdS solar cells; MOCVD; annealing; carrier concentrations; conductivity; deposition parameters; electrical properties; front contact; metalorganic chemical vapor deposition; optical properties; partial pressures; sheet resistance; substrate temperature; transparent conducting CdO:Sn thin films; Annealing; Cadmium compounds; Chemical vapor deposition; Conductive films; Conductivity; Electric resistance; MOCVD; Optical films; Substrates; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anchorage, AK

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5772-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2000.915947

Filename

915947