The impact of Cu on recombination in high voltage CdTe solar cells

Kuciauskas, Darius; Dippo, Pat; Kanevce, Ana; Zhao, Zhibo; Cheng, Long; Los, Andrei; Gloeckler, Markus; Metzger, Wyatt K.

doi:10.1063/1.4938127

Title: The impact of Cu on recombination in high voltage CdTe solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Dec 14 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4938127· OSTI ID:1236151

^[1]; Dippo, Pat ^[1]; Kanevce, Ana ^[1]; Zhao, Zhibo ^[2]; Cheng, Long ^[2]; Los, Andrei ^[2]; Gloeckler, Markus ^[2]; Metzger, Wyatt K. ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
First Solar Inc., Perrysburg, OH (United States)

Using photoluminescence spectroscopy, we construct a recombination model for state-of-the-art CdTe solar cells doped with Cu. Here, we observe that Cu on Cd sites form a dominant acceptor state about 150 meV from the valence band. Although it is intuitive that this state can increase hole density, we also find that this relatively shallow dopant can also limit lifetime. Consequently, CdTe solar cells doped with Cu could have a lifetime limitation inversely proportional to the hole concentration.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); NREL-First Solar Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; AC36-08-GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1236151

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1234057

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-65705; APPLAB

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 24; Related Information: Applied Physics Letters; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 27 works

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Carrier density and lifetime for different dopants in single-crystal and polycrystalline CdTe Burst, James M.; Farrell, Stuart B.; Albin, David S. APL Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4966209	journal	November 2016

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Title: The impact of Cu on recombination in high voltage CdTe solar cells

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