Spectroscopic cathodoluminescence studies of the ZnTe:Cu contact process for CdS/CdTe solar cells

Author

Gessert, T.A. ; Romero, M.J. ; Johnston, S. ; Keyes, B. ; Dippo, P.

Author_Institution

NREL, Golden, CO, USA

fYear

2002

fDate

19-24 May 2002

Firstpage

535

Lastpage

538

Abstract

Spectroscopic cathodoluminescence (CL), electron-beam induced current (EBIC), and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements are used to study the formation of CdS/CdTe devices processed using ion-beam milling and a ZnTe:Cu/Ti contact. Results show heating in vacuum at ∼360°C and ion-beam milling lead to observable changes in the CL emission from the CdCl₂-treated CdTe surface. Changes in the CL spectrum are also observed as ZnTe:Cu layer thickness increases. These changes are correlated to published studies of defect levels and shown to be due, possibly, to an n-type region existing between the ZnTe:Cu contact interface and the p-CdTe layers. This n-type region is eliminated once a sufficiently thick ZnTe:Cu layer is produced.

Keywords

EBIC; II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; capacitance; cathodoluminescence; interface states; ion beam applications; semiconductor junctions; solar cells; zinc compounds; 360 degC; CdCl₂; CdCl₂-treated CdTe surface; CdS-CdTe; CdS/CdTe solar cells; EBIC; ZnTe:Cu contact process; ZnTe:Cu layer thickness; ZnTe:Cu-Ti; ZnTe:Cu/Ti contact; capacitance-voltage measurements; defect levels; electron-beam induced current measurements; heating; ion-beam milling; n-type region; p-CdTe layers; spectroscopic cathodoluminescence studies; Capacitance-voltage characteristics; Cascading style sheets; Contacts; Cooling; Heating; Milling; Photovoltaic cells; Spectroscopy; Stability; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2002. Conference Record of the Twenty-Ninth IEEE

ISSN

1060-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7471-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2002.1190620

Filename

1190620