Continuous-wave laser driven post deposition chlorine treatment of CdTe

Post-deposition laser processing of CdTe has potential for reducing manufacturing costs of CdTe PV modules. In this work we demonstrate the applicability of lasers to thermally processing CdTe modules by using a continuous wave Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser to drive CdCl₂ treatment of CdTe. The data show that, similar to traditional annealing, laser annealing for only 15 seconds at higher than typical temperatures, the annealed CdTe displays an increase in A-center peak (1.435 eV) in photoluminescence yield. These indicate that chlorine activation of the absorber layer occurs in a mere 15 s and demonstrates the potential of accelerating the post-deposition CdCl₂ treatment of CdTe by utilizing laser annealing at higher temperatures.