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Title: Device Fabrication using Crystalline CdTe and CdTe Ternary Alloys Grown by MBE

Conference ·

We fabricated epitaxial CdTe:In/CdTe:As homojunction and CdZnTe/CdTe and CdMgTe/CdTe heterojunction devices grown on bulk CdTe substrates in order to study the fundamental device physics of CdTe solar cells. Selection of emitter-layer alloys was based on passivation studies using double heterostructures as well as band alignment. Initial results show significant device integration challenges, including low dopant activation, high resistivity substrates and the development of low-resistance contacts. To date, the highest open-circuit voltage is 715 mV in a CdZnTe/CdTe heterojunction following anneal, while the highest fill factor of 52% was attained in an annealed CdTe homojunction. In general, all currentvoltage measurements show high series resistance, capacitancevoltages measurements show variable doping, and quantum efficiency measurements show low collection. Ongoing work includes overcoming the high resistance in these devices and addressing other possible device limitations such as non-optimum junction depth, interface recombination, and reduced bulk lifetime due to structural defects.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1251115
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5K00-66381
Resource Relation:
Conference: Presented at the 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 14-19 June 2015, New Orleans, Louisiana; Related Information: Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 14-19 June 2015, New Orleans, Louisiana
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English