Radiative Efficiency and Charge-Carrier Lifetimes and Diffusion Length in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures

Kuciauskas, Darius; Moseley, John; Scajev, Patrik; Albin, David S.

doi:10.1002/pssr.201900606

Title: Radiative Efficiency and Charge-Carrier Lifetimes and Diffusion Length in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures

Journal Article · Wed Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2019 · Physica Status Solidi rrl

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/pssr.201900606· OSTI ID:1579640

^[1]; Moseley, John ^[1]; Scajev, Patrik ^[2]; Albin, David S. ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Vilnius Univ., Vilnius (Lithuania). Inst. of Photonics and Nanotechnology

CdTe-based photovoltaics is a rapidly developing energy technology with one of the lowest levelized costs of electricity. But nonradiative Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) recombination limits the efficiency of CdTe solar cells. Partial mitigation of bulk and grain-boundary SRH recombination was achieved by alloying CdTe with Se, and CdSexTe1-x absorbers are used in high-efficiency solar cells. Recently, interface recombination was significantly reduced with alumina passivation, but other properties of Al2O3/CdSexTe1-x/Al2O3 heterostructures have not yet been investigated. Herein, further progress in understanding and developing polycrystalline heterostructures with x = 0.2 is reported. It is shown that external photoluminescence quantum yield is increased to 0.2%, quasi-Fermi-level splitting to 950 mV, minority carrier lifetimes to 750 ns, and mobility to 100 cm2 Vs-1. Such polycrystalline CdSexTe1-x electronic characteristics match or exceed CdTe single-crystal properties. The resulting charge-carrier diffusion length of ≈14 μm is several times greater than the absorber thickness in test structures and in typical CdTe solar cells. Herein, with passivation and absorbers, polycrystalline CdSeTe solar cell open-circuit voltage is increased from the current 76% of the Shockley–Queisser limit to 82%, or close to 1 V is reported.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; EE0008552

OSTI ID:: 1579640

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1577408; OSTI ID: 1772460

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-75637

Journal Information:: Physica Status Solidi rrl, Vol. 14, Issue 3; ISSN 1862-6254

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 29 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (39)

Terawatt-scale photovoltaics: Transform global energy Haegel, Nancy M.; Atwater, Harry; Barnes, Teresa Science, Vol. 364, Issue 6443 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1845	journal	May 2019
Rectification and tunneling effects enabled by Al ₂ O ₃ atomic layer deposited on back contact of CdTe solar cells Liang, Jun; Lin, Qinxian; Li, Hao Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4926601	journal	July 2015
Non-Radiative Carrier Recombination Enhanced by Two-Level Process: A First-Principles Study Yang, Ji-Hui; Shi, Lin; Wang, Lin-Wang Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21712	journal	February 2016
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
The role of drift, diffusion, and recombination in time-resolved photoluminescence of CdTe solar cells determined through numerical simulation: The role of drift, diffusion, and recombination in time-resolved photoluminescence Kanevce, A.; Levi, D. H.; Kuciauskas, D. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 22, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2369	journal	February 2013
Efficiency Potential of Photovoltaic Materials and Devices Unveiled by Detailed-Balance Analysis Rau, Uwe; Blank, Beatrix; Müller, Thomas C. M. Physical Review Applied, Vol. 7, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.7.044016	journal	April 2017
Kinetic Simulations of Cu Doping in Chlorinated CdSeTe PV Absorbers Sankin, Igor; Krasikov, Dmitry physica status solidi (a), Vol. 216, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.201800887	journal	February 2019
The Role of Back Buffer Layers and Absorber Properties for >25% Efficient CdTe Solar Cells Liyanage, Geethika K.; Phillips, Adam B.; Alfadhili, Fadhil K. ACS Applied Energy Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.9b00367	journal	July 2019
Emitter/absorber interface of CdTe solar cells Song, Tao; Kanevce, Ana; Sites, James R. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4953820	journal	June 2016
High temperature optical absorption edge of CdTe single crystal Belas, E.; Uxa, Š.; Grill, R. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 116, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4895494	journal	September 2014
Spin-orbit coupling effects on predicting defect properties with hybrid functionals: A case study in CdTe Pan, Jie; Metzger, Wyatt K.; Lany, Stephan Physical Review B, Vol. 98, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.054108	journal	August 2018
Sputter-Deposited Oxides for Interface Passivation of CdTe Photovoltaics Kephart, Jason M.; Kindvall, Anna; Williams, Desiree IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2787021	journal	March 2018
Recombination velocity less than 100 cm/s at polycrystalline Al ₂ O ₃ /CdSeTe interfaces Kuciauskas, Darius; Kephart, Jason M.; Moseley, John Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5030870	journal	June 2018
The roles of carrier concentration and interface, bulk, and grain-boundary recombination for 25% efficient CdTe solar cells Kanevce, A.; Reese, M. O.; Barnes, T. M. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4984320	journal	June 2017
Minority Carrier Lifetime Analysis in the Bulk of Thin-Film Absorbers Using Subbandgap (Two-Photon) Excitation Kuciauskas, Darius; Kanevce, Ana; Burst, James M. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 3, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2270354	journal	October 2013
Electrical and optical characterization of CdTe solar cells with CdS and CdSe buffers—A comparative study Mia, Md Dalim; Swartz, Craig H.; Paul, Sanjoy Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol. 36, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.5044219	journal	September 2018
Hybrid perovskite films approaching the radiative limit with over 90% photoluminescence quantum efficiency Braly, Ian L.; deQuilettes, Dane W.; Pazos-Outón, Luis M. Nature Photonics, Vol. 12, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-018-0154-z	journal	April 2018
Excitation-dependent carrier lifetime and diffusion length in bulk CdTe determined by time-resolved optical pump-probe techniques Ščajev, Patrik; Miasojedovas, Saulius; Mekys, Algirdas Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5010780	journal	January 2018
Recombination and bandgap engineering in CdSeTe/CdTe solar cells Zheng, X.; Kuciauskas, D.; Moseley, J. APL Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5098459	journal	July 2019
Minority-Carrier Lifetime and Surface Recombination Velocity in Single-Crystal CdTe Kuciauskas, Darius; Kanevce, Ana; Dippo, Pat IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2359738	journal	January 2015
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
Factors influencing photoluminescence and photocarrier lifetime in CdSeTe/CdMgTe double heterostructures Swartz, C. H.; Zaunbrecher, K. N.; Sohal, S. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4966574	journal	October 2016
Radiative efficiency of state-of-the-art photovoltaic cells Green, Martin A. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 20, Issue 4, p. 472-476 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.1147	journal	September 2011
A diffraction-based technique for determination of interband absorption coefficients in bulk 3C-, 4H- and 6H-SiC crystals Ščajev, Patrik; Kato, Masashi; Jarašiūnas, Kęstutis Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 44, Issue 36 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/44/36/365402	journal	August 2011
Optical determination of Shockley-Read-Hall and interface recombination currents in hybrid perovskites Sarritzu, Valerio; Sestu, Nicola; Marongiu, Daniela Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44629	journal	March 2017
Luminescence methodology to determine grain-boundary, grain-interior, and surface recombination in thin-film solar cells Moseley, John; Rale, Pierre; Collin, Stéphane Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 124, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042532	journal	September 2018
Direct Measurements of Carrier Transport in Polycrystalline Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Films with Transient Grating Spectroscopy Arias, Dylan H.; Moore, David T.; van de Lagemaat, Jao The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02245	journal	September 2018
Diffusion Enhancement in Highly Excited MAPbI ₃ Perovskite Layers with Additives Ščajev, Patrik; Qin, Chuanjiang; Aleksieju̅nas, Ramu̅nas The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01155	journal	May 2018
Exceeding 20% efficiency with in situ group V doping in polycrystalline CdTe solar cells Metzger, W. K.; Grover, S.; Lu, D. Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0446-7	journal	August 2019
Spectroscopic and Microscopic Defect and Carrier-Lifetime Analysis in Cadmium Telluride Kuciauskas, Darius; Krasikov, Dmitry IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2866180	journal	November 2018
Selenium lowers bulk recombination Krasikov, Dmitry Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0393-3	journal	May 2019
All-back-Schottky-contact thin-film photovoltaics Nardone, Marco Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4942218	journal	February 2016
Band tailing and efficiency limitation in kesterite solar cells Gokmen, Tayfun; Gunawan, Oki; Todorov, Teodor K. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4820250	journal	September 2013
Two dimensional numerical simulations of carrier dynamics during time-resolved photoluminescence decays in two-photon microscopy measurements in semiconductors Kanevce, Ana; Kuciauskas, Darius; Levi, Dean H. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4927299	journal	July 2015
The Optical Diode Ideality Factor Enables Fast Screening of Semiconductors for Solar Cells Babbe, Finn; Choubrac, Leo; Siebentritt, Susanne Solar RRL, Vol. 2, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.201800248	journal	October 2018
Guide for the perplexed to the Shockley–Queisser model for solar cells Guillemoles, Jean-Francois; Kirchartz, Thomas; Cahen, David Nature Photonics, Vol. 13, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0479-2	journal	July 2019
Interfaces Between CdTe and ALD Al 2 O 3 Perkins, Craig L.; Ablekim, Tursun; Barnes, Teresa M. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 8, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2018.2870139	journal	November 2018
Photoluminescence Analysis of Thin-Film Solar Cells Unold, Thomas; G??tay, Levent Advanced Characterization Techniques for Thin Film Solar Cells, Vol. 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527699025.ch11	book	January 2016
All-Back-Schottky-Contact Thin-Film Photovoltaics Nardone, Marco arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1504.04356	text	January 2015

Similar Records

Microsecond Carrier Lifetimes in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures and in CdSeTe Thin Film Solar Cells

Conference · Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · 2020 47th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) · OSTI ID:1579640

Kuciauskas, Darius; Albin, David; Moseley, John; +7 more

Microsecond Carrier Lifetimes in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures and in CdSeTe Thin Film Solar Cells

Conference · Tue Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2021 · OSTI ID:1579640

Kuciauskas, Darius; Albin, David; Moseley, John; +7 more

Microsecond Carrier Lifetimes in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures and in CdSeTe Thin Film Solar Cells

Conference · Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Conference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference · OSTI ID:1579640

Kuciauskas, Darius; Albin, David; Moseley, John; +7 more

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
charge-carrier transport
luminescence
passivation
thin film solar cells

Title: Radiative Efficiency and Charge-Carrier Lifetimes and Diffusion Length in Polycrystalline CdSeTe Heterostructures

Citation Formats

References (39)

Similar Records

Related Subjects