Direct observation of electrical properties of grain boundaries in sputter-deposited CdTe using scan-probe microwave reflectivity based capacitance measurements

Tuteja, Mohit; Koirala, Prakash; MacLaren, Scott; Collins, Robert; Rockett, Angus

doi:10.1063/1.4932952

Title: Direct observation of electrical properties of grain boundaries in sputter-deposited CdTe using scan-probe microwave reflectivity based capacitance measurements

Journal Article · Thu Oct 08 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4932952· OSTI ID:1469477

Tuteja, Mohit ^[1];

^[2]; MacLaren, Scott ^[3]; Collins, Robert ^[2]; Rockett, Angus ^[1]

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Frederick Seitz Materials Research Lab.

Here, polycrystalline CdTe in 12% efficient solar cells has been studied using scanning microwave impedance microscopy (sMIM). The CdS/CdTe junctions were grown on transparent-conducting-oxide-coated soda lime glass using rf sputter deposition. sMIM based capacitance measurements were performed on the exposed surface of CdCl₂ treated CdTe adjacent to thermal-evaporation-deposited Cu/Au back contacts. The sMIM instrument was operated at ~3 GHz, and capacitance measurements were performed as a function of ac and dc voltage biases applied to the tip, with and without sample illumination. Although dc capacitance measurements are affected by sample topography, the differential capacitance measurement was shown to be topography independent. It was found that the grain boundaries exhibit a depleted carrier concentration as compared to the grain bulk. This depletion effect is enhanced under photo-generated carrier separation or under sufficiently large probe tip biases opposite to the majority carrier charge.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

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

Contributing Organization:: NSG-Pilkington, Rossford, OH (United States)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0005405

OSTI ID:: 1469477

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1223156

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 14; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 16 works

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Cited By (6)

Scanning Microwave Impedance Microscopy (sMIM) in Electronic and Quantum Materials Rubin, Kurt A.; Yang, Yongliang; Amster, Oskar Electrical Atomic Force Microscopy for Nanoelectronics https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15612-1_12	book	August 2019
Impact of grain boundaries on efficiency and stability of organic-inorganic trihalide perovskites Chu, Zhaodong; Yang, Mengjin; Schulz, Philip Nature Communications, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02331-4	journal	December 2017
Optically coupled methods for microwave impedance microscopy Johnston, Scott R.; Ma, Eric Yue; Shen, Zhi-Xun Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 89, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5011391	journal	April 2018
Grain boundaries in CdTe thin film solar cells: a review Major, Jonathan D. Semiconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 31, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0268-1242/31/9/093001	journal	July 2016
Impact of Grain Boundaries on Efficiency and Stability of Organic-Inorganic Trihalide Perovskites Chu, Zhaodong; Yang, Mengjin; Schulz, Philip arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1610.00755	text	January 2016
Optically Coupled Methods for Microwave Impedance Microscopy Johnston, Scott R.; Ma, Eric Yue; Shen, Zhi-Xun arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1710.10239	text	January 2017

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Title: Direct observation of electrical properties of grain boundaries in sputter-deposited CdTe using scan-probe microwave reflectivity based capacitance measurements

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