Thin film cadmium telluride and zinc phosphide solar cells

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6185589· OSTI ID:6185589

Chu, T.

This report describes research performed from June 1982 to October 1983 on the deposition of cadmium telluride films by direct combination of the cadmium and tellurium vapor on foreign substrates. Nearly stoichiometric p-type cadmium telluride films and arsenic-doped p-type films have been prepared reproducibly. Major efforts were directed to the deposition and characterization of heterojunction window materials, indium tin oxide, fluorine-doped tin oxide, cadmium oxide, and zinc oxide. A number of heterojunction solar cells were prepared, and the best thin-film ITO/CdTe solar cells had an AMl efficiency of about 7.2%. Zinc phosphide films were deposited on W/steel substrates by the reaction of zinc and phosphine in a hydrogen flow. Films without intentional doping had an electrical resistivity on the order of 10/sup 6/ ohm-cm, and this resistivity may be reduced to about 5 x 10/sup 4/ ohm-cm by adding hydrogen chloride or hydrogen bromide to the reaction mixture. Lower resistivity films were deposited by adding a controlled amount of silver nitrate solution on to the substrate surface. Major efforts were directed to the deposition of low-resistivity zinc selenide in order to prepare ZnSe/An/sub 3/P/sub 2/ heterojunction thin-film solar cells. However, zinc selenide films deposited by vacuum evaporation and chemical vapor deposition techniques were all of high resistivity.

• Research Organization: Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6185589
• Report Number(s): SERI/STR-211-2441; ON: DE85002904
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
CADMIUM COMPOUNDS
CADMIUM OXIDES
CADMIUM TELLURIDE SOLAR CELLS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
DEPOSITION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
INDIUM OXIDES
JUNCTIONS
MATERIALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
P-TYPE CONDUCTORS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUANTUM EFFICIENCY
SELENIDES
SELENIUM COMPOUNDS
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SURFACE COATING
TIN COMPOUNDS
TIN OXIDES
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ZINC OXIDES
ZINC PHOSPHIDE SOLAR CELLS
ZINC SELENIDES