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Effect of CdCl{sub 2} treatment of CdS films on CdTe/CdS solar cells

Book ·
OSTI ID:417694
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States). Dept. of Physics

The authors investigated the effect of CdCl{sub 2} treatment of CdS films on the photovoltaic performance of polycrystalline CdTe/CdS solar cells. X-ray diffraction studies indicated that the diffusion of S into CdTe is qualitatively the same for CdTe/CdS films fabricated with both as-deposited and CdCl{sub 2}-treated CdS. A major difference was observed in the extent of Te diffusion into CdS for the two types of CdS films. Full conversion of CdS into CdS{sub 1{minus}y}Te{sub y} was observed for films prepared with as-deposited CdS, while the formation of the ternary phase was below the detection limit for films prepared with CdCl{sub 2}-treated CdS. Photoluminescence measurements confirmed this result. The difference in interdiffusion leads to differences in optical transmission of CdS films and spectral response of CdTe/CdS solar cells. An increase of 2.7 mA/cm{sup 2} in short-circuit current density was observed as a result of improved spectral response in the wavelength range of 500--600 nm for the CdCl{sub 2}-treated CdS.

Sponsoring Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
OSTI ID:
417694
Report Number(s):
CONF-960401--; ISBN 1-55899-329-0
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English