Properties of reactively sputtered ZnTe:N and its use in recombination junctions

Author

Drayton, J. ; Taylor, C. ; Gupta, A. ; Bohn, R.G. ; Rich, G. ; Compaan, A.D. ; McCandless, B.E. ; Rose, D.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Toledo Univ., OH, USA

fYear

2002

fDate

19-24 May 2002

Firstpage

539

Lastpage

542

Abstract

Reactively sputtered ZnTe:N is a close valence-band match to CdTe, transparent below 2.2 eV and therefore an attractive candidate for a back contact/tunnel junction in tandem cells using CdTe or CdZnTe top cells. We report on measurements of the optical emission spectra of N₂ during reactive sputtering as part of the doping optimization. For materials characterization, a series of films produced with various N₂/Ar gas ratios were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, optical absorption, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE), and the Hall effect. For transparent back contact fabrication, we used a ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al recombination junction bilayer.

Keywords

Hall effect; II-VI semiconductors; Raman spectra; X-ray diffraction; atomic force microscopy; ellipsometry; semiconductor doping; semiconductor growth; semiconductor junctions; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; sputtered coatings; transparency; valence bands; zinc compounds; 2.2 eV; AFM; CdTe; CdTe top cells; CdZnTe; CdZnTe top cells; Hall effect; N₂; N₂ optical emission spectra; N₂-Ar; N₂/Ar gas ratios; Raman spectroscopy; XRD; ZnTe:N; ZnTe:N-ZnO:Al; ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al recombination junction bilayer; atomic force microscopy; back contact/tunnel junction; doping optimization; materials characterization; optical absorption; reactively sputtered ZnTe:N films; recombination junctions; solar cells; tandem cells; transparent back contact fabrication; valence-band match; variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry; x-ray diffraction; Atom optics; Atomic force microscopy; Doping; Optical films; Optical materials; Optical microscopy; Raman scattering; Spectroscopy; Sputtering; Stimulated emission;

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.2002.1190621

Filename

1190621