Cu-doped CdS and its application in CdTe thin film solar cell

Journal Article · Fri Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2016 · AIP Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939817· OSTI ID:22492404

Deng, Yi ^[1]; Yang, Jun; Yang, Ruilong; Shen, Kai; Wang, Dezhao ^[2]; Wang, Deliang ^[2]

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1. School of Automation, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430070 (China)
2. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)

Cu is widely used in the back contact formation of CdTe thin film solar cells. However, Cu is easily to diffuse from the back contact into the CdTe absorber layer and even to the cell junction interface CdS/CdTe. This phenomenon is generally believed to be the main factor affecting the CdTe solar cell stability. In this study Cu was intentionally doped in CdS thin film to study its effect on the microstructural, optical and electrical properties of the CdS material. Upon Cu doping, the V{sub Cd{sup −}} and the surface-state-related photoluminescence emissions were dramatically decreased/quenched. The presence of Cu atom hindered the recrystallization/coalescence of the nano-sized grains in the as-deposited CdS film during the air and the CdCl{sub 2} annealing. CdTe thin film solar cell fabricated with Cu-doped CdS window layers demonstrated much decreased fill factor, which was induced by the increased space-charge recombination near the p-n junction and the worsened junction crystalline quality. Temperature dependent current-voltage curve measurement indicated that the doped Cu in the CdS window layer was not stable at both room and higher temperatures.

• OSTI ID: 22492404
• Journal Information: AIP Advances, Vol. 6, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2158-3226
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
CADMIUM CHLORIDES
CADMIUM SULFIDES
CADMIUM TELLURIDES
COALESCENCE
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
FILL FACTORS
INTERFACES
LAYERS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NANOSTRUCTURES
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
P-N JUNCTIONS
RECOMBINATION
RECRYSTALLIZATION
SOLAR CELLS
SPACE CHARGE
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIN FILMS