Optimization of vapor post-deposition processing for evaporated CdS/CdTe solar cells
✍ Scribed by B. E. McCandless; I. Youm; R. W. Birkmire
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 522 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1062-7995
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✦ Synopsis
The eects of thermal annealing in conjunction with CdCl 2 vapor heat treatment on the properties of CdTe/CdS thin ®lms and devices deposited by physical vapor deposition are reported. Results are compared for three treatment variations: hightemperature anneal only, high-temperature anneal followed by CdCl 2 vapor heat treatment and CdCl 2 vapor heat treatment only. X-ray diraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy show improved crystallographic properties of the CdTe ®lm and reduced CdS/CdTe interdiusion when a high-temperature anneal is used prior to CdCl 2 treatment. The CdTe/CdS solar cells fabricated using an anneal at 5508C in argon prior to the CdCl 2 vapor heat treatment exhibited improved electrical characteristics compared to cells fabricated with no anneal step, yielding an open-circuit voltage exceeding 850 mV.