3D Lifetime Tomography Reveals How CdCl 2 Improves Recombination Throughout CdTe Solar Cells

Barnard, Edward S.; Ursprung, Benedikt; Colegrove, Eric; Moutinho, Helio R.; Borys, Nicholas J.; Hardin, Brian E.; Peters, Craig H.; Metzger, Wyatt K.; Schuck, P. James

doi:10.1002/adma.201603801

Title: 3D Lifetime Tomography Reveals How CdCl ₂ Improves Recombination Throughout CdTe Solar Cells

Journal Article · Tue Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Advanced Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201603801· OSTI ID:1340656

Barnard, Edward S. ^[1]; Ursprung, Benedikt ^[2]; Colegrove, Eric ^[3]; Moutinho, Helio R. ^[3]; Borys, Nicholas J. ^[4]; Hardin, Brian E. ^[2]; Peters, Craig H. ^[2]; Metzger, Wyatt K. ^[3]; Schuck, P. James ^[4]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry; PlANT PV Inc., Oakland, CA (United States)
PlANT PV Inc., Oakland, CA (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry

Spatially resolved 3D carrier-lifetime maps were measured using 2P tomography to uncover carrier dynamics at buried structures in CdTe thin-films photovoltaics. When thin-film CdTe solar cells are initially deposited, we observe increased nonradiative carrier recombination at GBs throughout the 3D volume of the film, which is most pronounced in the critical junction region where small nucleation grains form at the buried CdTe/CdS interface. The data on CdTe films treated by exposure to CdCl₂ vapor reveal that a critical function of the treatment is to reduce surface, interface and GB recombination throughout the entirety of these polycrystalline films. The CdCl₂ treatment may also compensate CdTe films, making it difficult to exceed a hole density of 1015m-3 and achieve higher current density and efficiency.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1340656

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1475010

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-67498

Journal Information:: Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 3; ISSN 0935-9648

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 35 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (20)

Review of the CdCl2 Treatment Used in CdS/CdTe Thin Film Solar Cell Development and New Evidence towards Improved Understanding Dharmadasa, I. Coatings, Vol. 4, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings4020282	journal	April 2014
Quantitative Determination of Grain-Boundary Recombination Velocity in CdTe by Cathodoluminescence Measurements and Numerical Simulations Kanevce, Ana; Moseley, John; Al-Jassim, Mowafak IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2478061	journal	November 2015
Key Aspects of CdTe/CdS Solar Cells Durose, K.; Boyle, D.; Abken, A. physica status solidi (b), Vol. 229, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/1521-3951(200201)229:2<1055::AID-PSSB1055>3.0.CO;2-W	journal	January 2002
Deep tissue two-photon microscopy Helmchen, Fritjof; Denk, Winfried Nature Methods, Vol. 2, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth818	journal	November 2005
Dependence of the Minority-Carrier Lifetime on the Stoichiometry of CdTe Using Time-Resolved Photoluminescence and First-Principles Calculations Ma, Jie; Kuciauskas, Darius; Albin, David Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 6, Article No. 067402 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.067402	journal	August 2013
Cross-sectional imaging of pendeo-epitaxial GaN using continuous-wave two-photon microphotoluminescence Schuck, P. J.; Grober, R. D.; Roskowski, A. M. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 81, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1506948	journal	September 2002
Analysis of Bulk and Interface Phenomena in CdTe/CdS Thin-Film Solar Cells Terheggen, M.; Heinrich, H.; Kostorz, G. Interface Science, Vol. 12, Issue 2/3 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:INTS.0000028655.11608.c7	journal	April 2004
Recombination by grain-boundary type in CdTe Moseley, John; Metzger, Wyatt K.; Moutinho, Helio R. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926726	journal	July 2015
Grain-Boundary-Enhanced Carrier Collection in CdTe Solar Cells Li, Chen; Wu, Yelong; Poplawsky, Jonathan Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.156103	journal	April 2014
Growth regimes of CdTe deposited by close-spaced sublimation for application in thin film solar cells Luschitz, J.; Lakus-Wollny, K.; Klein, A. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2006.12.171	journal	May 2007
Charge-carrier transport and recombination in heteroepitaxial CdTe Kuciauskas, Darius; Farrell, Stuart; Dippo, Pat Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4896673	journal	September 2014
PROCESSING HIGH EFFICIENCY CdTe SOLAR CELLS BaŞOl, BÜLent M. International Journal of Solar Energy, Vol. 12, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1080/01425919208909748	journal	January 1992
Understanding the Beneficial Role of Grain Boundaries in Polycrystalline Solar Cells from Single-Grain-Boundary Scanning Probe Microscopy Visoly-Fisher, I.; Cohen, S. R.; Gartsman, K. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.200500396	journal	March 2006
Impact of microstructure on local carrier lifetime in perovskite solar cells de Quilettes, D. W.; Vorpahl, S. M.; Stranks, S. D. Science, Vol. 348, Issue 6235 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa5333	journal	April 2015
Recrystallization and sulfur diffusion in CdCl2-treated CdTe/CdS thin films McCandless, B. E.; Moulton, L. V.; Birkmire, R. W. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-159X(199707/08)5:4<249::AID-PIP178>3.0.CO;2-S	journal	July 1997
The impact of charged grain boundaries on thin-film solar cells and characterization Metzger, W. K.; Gloeckler, M. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 98, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2042530	journal	September 2005
Analysis of charge separation dynamics in a semiconductor junction Metzger, W. K.; Ahrenkiel, R. K.; Dashdorj, J. Physical Review B, Vol. 71, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.71.035301	journal	January 2005
Probing carrier lifetimes in photovoltaic materials using subsurface two-photon microscopy Barnard, Edward S.; Hoke, Eric T.; Connor, Stephen T. Scientific Reports, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02098	journal	June 2013
CdCl2 treatment, S diffusion, and recombination in polycrystalline CdTe Metzger, W. K.; Albin, D.; Romero, M. J. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 99, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2196127	journal	May 2006
Cathodoluminescence Analysis of Grain Boundaries and Grain Interiors in Thin-Film CdTe Moseley, John; Al-Jassim, Mowafak M.; Kuciauskas, Darius IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2359732	journal	November 2014

Cited By (15)

Applications of Phosphorene and Black Phosphorus in Energy Conversion and Storage Devices Pang, Jinbo; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Yin, Yin Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201702093	journal	December 2017
Obtaining Large Columnar CdTe Grains and Long Lifetime on Nanocrystalline CdSe, MgZnO, or CdS Layers Amarasinghe, Mahisha; Colegrove, Eric; Moseley, John Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201702666	journal	January 2018
Rational Design of Metal Oxide-Based Cathodes for Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Wang, Wei; Xu, Xiaomin; Liu, Yu Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201800172	journal	July 2018
Grain boundary passivation by CdCl2 treatment in CdTe solar cells revealed by Kelvin probe force microscopy Li, Chuang; Chen, Gang; Wang, Wenwu Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Vol. 29, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-0212-9	journal	October 2018
Understanding the role of selenium in defect passivation for highly efficient selenium-alloyed cadmium telluride solar cells Fiducia, Thomas A. M.; Mendis, Budhika G.; Li, Kexue Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0389-z	journal	May 2019
Point defect engineering in thin-film solar cells Park, Ji Sang; Kim, Sunghyun; Xie, Zijuan Nature Reviews Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-018-0026-7	journal	June 2018
Heterogeneity at multiple length scales in halide perovskite semiconductors Tennyson, Elizabeth M.; Doherty, Tiarnan A. S.; Stranks, Samuel D. Nature Reviews Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-019-0125-0	journal	July 2019
Overcoming Carrier Concentration Limits in Polycrystalline CdTe Thin Films with In Situ Doping McCandless, Brian E.; Buchanan, Wayne A.; Thompson, Christopher P. Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32746-y	journal	September 2018
CdCl ₂ passivation of polycrystalline CdMgTe and CdZnTe absorbers for tandem photovoltaic cells Swanson, Drew E.; Reich, Carey; Abbas, Ali Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5023811	journal	May 2018
Thin‐film solar cells exceeding 22% solar cell efficiency: An overview on CdTe-, Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ -, and perovskite-based materials Powalla, Michael; Paetel, Stefan; Ahlswede, Erik Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5061809	journal	December 2018
Effect of selenium and chlorine co-passivation in polycrystalline CdSeTe devices Guo, Jinglong; Mannodi-Kanakkithodi, Arun; Sen, Fatih G. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123169	journal	October 2019
Experimental and theoretical comparison of Sb, As, and P diffusion mechanisms and doping in CdTe Colegrove, E.; Yang, J-H; Harvey, S. P. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 51, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aaa67e	journal	January 2018
Monte Carlo simulation of CdTe thin film recrystallization process during chlorine activation Zhu, Ziyao; Liu, Xiangxin; Zhang, Yue Materials Research Express, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab6c05	journal	January 2020
Heterogeneity at multiple length scales in halide perovskite semiconductors Tennyson, Beth; Doherty, Tas; Stranks, Samuel Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.41839	text	January 2019
Probing buried recombination pathways in perovskite structures using 3D photoluminescence tomography. Stavrakas, Camille; Zhumekenov, Ayan A.; Brenes, Roberto Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.27903	text	January 2018

Similar Records

Local Electronic Structure Changes in Polycrystalline CdTe with CdCl₂ Treatment and Air Exposure

Journal Article · Mon Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces · OSTI ID:1340656

Berg, Morgann; Kephart, Jason M.; Munshi, Amit; +3 more

Three-dimensional minority carrier lifetime mapping of thin film semiconductors for solar cell applications

Technical Report · Wed Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · OSTI ID:1340656

Hardin, Brian; Peters, Craig; Barnard, Edward

Distinguishing bulk and surface recombination in CdTe thin films and solar cells using time-resolved terahertz and photoluminescence spectroscopies

Journal Article · Thu Oct 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:1340656

Taheri, Mohammad M.; Truong, Triet M.; Li, Siming; +3 more

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CdTe
CdCl2
photovoltaics
tomography
two-photon

Title: 3D Lifetime Tomography Reveals How CdCl 2 Improves Recombination Throughout CdTe Solar Cells

Citation Formats

References (20)

Cited By (15)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Title: 3D Lifetime Tomography Reveals How CdCl ₂ Improves Recombination Throughout CdTe Solar Cells