Sulfur diffusion in polycrystalline thin-film CdTe solar cells

Conference · Thu Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:323664

Aslan, M H; Song, W; Tang, T; Mao, D; Collins, R T ^[1]; Levi, D H; Ahrenkiel, R K ^[2]; Lindstrom, S C; Johnson, M B ^[3]

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1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States). Physics Dept.
2. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
3. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)

X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements have been used to characterize the diffusion of S into CdTe during post growth annealing of CdTe solar cells. For anneals at 410 C in the presence of CdCl{sub 2}, evidence that both a CdTe{sub 1{minus}x}S{sub x} phase and nearly-pure CdTe are present near the back contact is observed. The ternary phase becomes more prominent and the S concentration increases with depth reaching roughly 4--5% near the CdS interface. Much less diffusion is observed at 350 C while for a 460 C anneal, CdTe{sub 1{minus}x}S{sub x} with a S concentration near 5% is found throughout the layer. The presence of CdCl{sub 2} during the anneal enhances the interdiffusion.

• Sponsoring Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
• OSTI ID: 323664
• Report Number(s): CONF-971201--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANNEALING
CADMIUM CHLORIDES
CADMIUM SULFIDES
CADMIUM TELLURIDE SOLAR CELLS
DIFFUSION
INTERFACES
PHASE STUDIES
SULFUR