Carrier providers or killers: The case of Cu defects in CdTe

Yang, Ji -Hui; Metzger, Wyatt K.; Wei, Su -Huai

doi:10.1063/1.4986077

Title: Carrier providers or killers: The case of Cu defects in CdTe

Journal Article · Mon Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4986077· OSTI ID:1375310

Yang, Ji -Hui ^[1]; Metzger, Wyatt K. ^[1];

^[2]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing (China)

Defects play important roles in semiconductors for optoelectronic applications. Common intuition is that defects with shallow levels act as carrier providers and defects with deep levels are carrier killers. Here, taking the Cu defects in CdTe as an example, we show that relatively shallow defects can play both roles. Using first-principles calculation methods combined with thermodynamic simulations, we study the dialectic effects of Cu-related defects on hole density and lifetime in bulk CdTe. Because CuCd can form a relatively shallow acceptor, we find that increased Cu incorporation into CdTe indeed can help achieve high hole density; however, too much Cu can cause significant non-radiative recombination. We discuss strategies to balance the contradictory effects of Cu defects based on the calculated impact of Cd chemical potential, copper defect concentrations, and annealing temperature on lifetime and hole density. Lastly, these findings advance the understanding of the potential complex defect behaviors of relatively shallow defect states in semiconductors.

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; SunShot Initiative

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1375310

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1372711

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-69052

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 4; ISSN 0003-6951

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

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 23 works

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Exceeding 20% efficiency with in situ group V doping in polycrystalline CdTe solar cells Metzger, W. K.; Grover, S.; Lu, D. Nature Energy, Vol. 4, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0446-7	journal	August 2019
Point defect engineering in thin-film solar cells Park, Ji Sang; Kim, Sunghyun; Xie, Zijuan Nature Reviews Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-018-0026-7	journal	June 2018
Thin‐film solar cells exceeding 22% solar cell efficiency: An overview on CdTe-, Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ -, and perovskite-based materials Powalla, Michael; Paetel, Stefan; Ahlswede, Erik Applied Physics Reviews, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5061809	journal	December 2018

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