Oxygen Management to Avoid Photo-Inactive Cd(S,Se) for Efficient Cd(Se,Te) Solar Cells

Li, Deng-Bing; Neupane, Sabin; Bista, Sandip S.; Xiao, Chuanxiao; Abudulimu, Abasi; Jamarkattel, Manoj K.; Phillips, Adam B.; Heben, Michael J.; Poplawsky, Jonathan D.; Cullen, David A.; Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Ellingson, Randall J.; Yan, Yanfa

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00141

Oxygen Management to Avoid Photo-Inactive Cd(S,Se) for Efficient Cd(Se,Te) Solar Cells

Journal Article · 20 February 2023 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.3c00141· OSTI ID:1962037

Li, Deng-Bing; Neupane, Sabin; Bista, Sandip S.; Xiao, Chuanxiao; Abudulimu, Abasi; Jamarkattel, Manoj K.; Phillips, Adam B.; Heben, Michael J.; Poplawsky, Jonathan D.; Cullen, David A.; Jiang, Chun-Sheng; Ellingson, Randall J.; Yan, Yanfa

Our previous work has demonstrated that the formation of a penternary cadmium chalcogenide Cd(O,S,Se,Te) region can significantly reduce the front interface recombination in Cd(Se,Te)-based thin-film solar cells. In this work, we have shown that oxygen management during the device fabrication is crucial to form this region. While both the CdS and CdSe layer depositions and the postdeposition CdCl2 treatment should be conducted in the presence of oxygen, the CdTe deposition should be conducted in an oxygen-free atmosphere. Improper oxygen management leads to low device performance due to the formation of a photoinactive Cd(S,Se) region and reduced absorber quality. Additionally, we investigated the carrier transport and collection properties in devices with photoinactive Cd(S,Se) and photoactive Cd(O,S,Se,Te) at the front interface to gain comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that resulted in improved efficiencies approaching 20%.

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1962037

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-85613; MainId:86386; UUID:56487cc5-f889-4a6d-bb06-3ce754480c98; MainAdminID:69053

Journal Information:: ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 3

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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MATERIALS SCIENCE
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oxygen management
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Oxygen Management to Avoid Photo-Inactive Cd(S,Se) for Efficient Cd(Se,Te) Solar Cells

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