The effect of substrate temperature on material properties and the device performance of close-spaced sublimation deposited CdTe/CdS devices

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
High‐efficiency polycrystalline CdS/CdTe solar cells have been fabricated using CdTe absorber layers deposited by close‐spaced sublimation (CSS). CSS employs high substrate temperatures (T sub) during film growth, which can promote the formation of larger grains and higher V oc’s yielding better device performance. However, as T sub increases beyond 610 °C, voids or pinholes begin to form in the CdTe layer. When the back contact is applied, these voids serve as shunt paths that effectively lower V oc. In this fashion, benefits associated with higher substrate temperatures are seriously compromised. Concurrent with voiding is the observation that higher temperatures promote interdiffusion at the CdS/CdTe interface such that the effective thickness of the CdS layer is reduced. Variations in processing that correct for these detrimental effects have led to a total‐area device efficiency of 12%.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: