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

Journal Article · · Nature Energy
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States). Inst. of Materials Science
  2. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  3. 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.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1361263
Report Number(s):
BNL-113894-2017-JA; R&D Project: 16060; 16060; KC0403020
Journal Information:
Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 11; ISSN 2058-7546
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 60 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (32)

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Cited By (15)

Nanoscale imaging of charge carrier transport in water splitting photoanodes journal July 2018
Thickness scaling of ferroelectricity in BiFeO 3 by tomographic atomic force microscopy journal January 2019
Fossil Fuels Environmental Challenges and the Role of Solar Photovoltaic Technology Advances in Fast Tracking Hybrid Renewable Energy System journal June 2019
Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics journal January 2018
Electrical AFM for the Analysis of Resistive Switching book January 2019
Emerging Scanning Probe–Based Setups for Advanced Nanoelectronic Research journal August 2019
Investigation of AFM-based machining of ferroelectric thin films at the nanoscale journal January 2020
Vibrational and electrical properties of Cu2−xTe films: experimental data and first principle calculations journal May 2018
Scanning Probe Microscopy in Materials Science book January 2019
Applications of Phosphorene and Black Phosphorus in Energy Conversion and Storage Devices journal December 2017
On the Limits of Scalpel AFM for the 3D Electrical Characterization of Nanomaterials journal November 2018
Mesoscopic physical removal of material using sliding nano-diamond contacts journal February 2018
Scanning Probe Microscopy in Materials Science journal July 2004
Scanning probe microscopy for advanced nanoelectronics journal June 2019
Unravelling complex nature of CdS/CdTe based thin film solar cells journal August 2017

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