Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T19:46:00.670Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of Deposition Parameters on the Morphology of CdTe Films and on the Performance of CdTe Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Mathias Hädrich ,
Sebastian Mack ,
Heinrich Metzner ,
Udo Reislöhner  and
Wolfgang Witthuhn
Mathias Hädrich
Affiliation:
[email protected], Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, 07743, Germany, +49-3641-947302
Sebastian Mack
Affiliation:
[email protected], Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, 07743, Germany
Heinrich Metzner
Affiliation:
[email protected], Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, 07743, Germany
Udo Reislöhner
Affiliation:
[email protected], Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, 07743, Germany
Wolfgang Witthuhn
Affiliation:
[email protected], Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, 07743, Germany
Get access

Abstract

For industrial CdTe solar cell production, thin, dense and pinhole-free films have to be deposited at high rates. Using a close-to-industrial close space sublimation (CSS) process, we deposited CdTe films at different temperatures and rates. The morphology of these films was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The measurements show the size, size distribution and orientation of the grains to strongly depend on deposition temperature and rate. A suitable combination of these parameters yields large grains of about 3 microns diameter even for deposition temperatures below 750 K and at high deposition rates of 3 microns per minute. The interplay of CdTe layer morphology and solar cell performance is elucidated employing a TCO-CdS-CdTe-Mo film sequence for complete solar cells.

Keywords

thin filmphotovoltaicmorphology
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1012: Symposium Y – Thin-Film Compound Semiconductor Photovoltaics-2007 , 2007 , 1012-Y12-22
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Wu, X., Keane, J. C., Dhere, R. G., DeHart, C., Albin, D. S., Duda, A., Gessert, T. A., Asher, S., Levi, D. H., and Sheldon, P., in Proceedings of the 17th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Munich, Germany, Oct. 22-26, 2001, p. 995.Google Scholar
2. Hädrich, M., Lorenz, N., Metzner, H., Reislöhner, U., Mack, S., Gossla, M., and Witthuhn, W., Thin Solid Films 515, 5804 (2007).Google Scholar
3. Reislöhner, U., Hädrich, M., Lorenz, N., Metzner, H., and Witthuhn, W., Thin Solid Films 515, 6175 (2007).Google Scholar
4. Luschitz, J., Lakus-Wollny, K., Klein, A., and Jaegermann, W., Thin Solid Films 515, 5814 (2007).Google Scholar
5. Alamri, S. N., Phys. Stat. Sol. (a) 200, 352 (2003).Google Scholar
6. Falcão, V. D., Pinheiro, W. A., Ferreira, C. L., and Cruz, L. R. de Oliveira, Mater. Res. 9, 29 (2006).Google Scholar
7. Thornton, J. A., Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 7, 239 (1977).Google Scholar
8. Sarlund, J., Ritala, M., Leskelä, M., Siponmaa, E., and Zilliacus, R., Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 44, 177 (1996).Google Scholar
9. Moutinho, H. R., Al-Jassim, M. M., Abulfotuh, F. A., Levi, D. H., Dippo, P. C., Dhere, R. G., and Kazmerski, L. L., in Proceedings of the 26th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Anaheim, California, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 1997, p. 431.Google Scholar