The role of oxygen in CdS/CdTe solar cells deposited by close-spaced sublimation
Open Access
- 1 January 1996
- conference paper
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- No. 01608371,p. 777-780
- https://doi.org/10.1109/pvsc.1996.564243
Abstract
The presence of oxygen during close-spaced sublimation (CSS) of CdTe has been previously reported to be essential for high-efficiency CdS/CdTe solar cells because it increases the acceptor density in the absorber. The authors find that the presence of oxygen during CSS increases the nucleation site density of CdTe, thus decreasing pinhole density and grain size. Photoluminescence showed that oxygen decreases material quality in the bulk of the CdTe film, but positively impacts the critical CdS/CdTe interface. Through device characterization, they were unable to verify an increase in acceptor density with increased oxygen. These results, along with the achievement of high-efficiency solar cells (13% AM1.5) without the use of oxygen, led them to conclude that the use of oxygen during CSS deposition of CdTe can be useful but is not essential.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- Effects of Oxygen During Close-Spaced Sublimation of CdTe Solar CellsMRS Proceedings, 1996
- Thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cell with 15.8% efficiencyApplied Physics Letters, 1993
- TOWARD LOW COST CdTe PVInternational Journal of Sustainable Energy, 1992
- Topics on thin film CdS/CdTe solar cellsSolar Cells, 1988
- Oxygen doping in close-spaced-sublimed CdTe thin films for photovoltaic cellsJournal of Applied Physics, 1986
- Effect of oxygen on the photoluminescence of CdS/CdTe thin filmsJournal of Applied Physics, 1984