Charge transport in CdTe solar cells revealed by conductive tomographic atomic force microscopy

Luria, Justin; Kutes, Yasemin; Moore, Andrew; Zhang, Lihua; Stach, Eric A.; Huey, Bryan D.

doi:10.1038/nenergy.2016.150

Charge transport in CdTe solar cells revealed by conductive tomographic atomic force microscopy

Journal Article · Mon Sep 26 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nature Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.150· OSTI ID:1361263

Luria, Justin ^[1]; Kutes, Yasemin ^[1]; Moore, Andrew ^[2]; Zhang, Lihua ^[3]; ^[3]; ^[1]

Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States). Inst. of Materials Science
Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)

Polycrystalline photovoltaics comprising cadmium telluride (CdTe) represent a growing portion of the solar cell market, yet the physical picture of charge transport through the meso-scale grain morphology remains a topic of debate. It is unknown how thin film morphology affects the transport of electron-hole pairs. Accordingly this study is the first to generate three dimensional images of photocurrent throughout a thin-film solar cell, revealing the profound influence of grain boundaries and stacking faults on device efficiency.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 1361263

Report Number(s):: BNL--113894-2017-JA; KC0403020

Journal Information:: Nature Energy, Journal Name: Nature Energy Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 1; ISSN 2058-7546

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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