CuInSe{sub 2} cell with CdO window layer

Book · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:302519

Al-Quraini, A A; Champness, C H ^[1]

---

1. McGill Univ., Montreal, Quebec (Canada). Electrical Engineering Dept.

Using monocrystalline p-type substrates of CuInSe{sub 2} obtained from single crystal ingots of Bridgman-grown material, photovoltaic cells were fabricated with the layer structures CuInSe{sub 2}/CdO and CuInSe{sub 2}/CdS/CdO, where the CdO window layer, for both kinds of device, was deposited by dc reactive sputtering. The second kind of cell, where the lattice-matching CdS interlayer was deposited by a chemical bath method, showed a conversion efficiency of about 6.8% and a dark forward ideality factor of 1.7. By comparison, the device without the interlayer, where the lattice mismatch between the CuInSe{sub 2} and the CdO was about 23%, showed a surprising efficiency of 6.3%, despite a larger dark ideality factor of 2.7. This result, indicating that the defect centers at the CuInSe{sub 2}-CdO interface arising from the large lattice mismatch play a smaller role than expected, suggests that the seat of photovoltaic action may lie away from the substrate-window layer interface.

• Sponsoring Organization: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)
• OSTI ID: 302519
• Report Number(s): CONF-970953--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
CADMIUM OXIDES
COPPER SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FABRICATION
INDIUM SELENIDE SOLAR CELLS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
SPUTTERING