TY - JOUR
T1 - The Effects of Hydrogen Iodide Back Surface Treatment on CdTe Solar Cells
AU - Awni, Rasha A.
AU - Li, Deng Bing
AU - Grice, Corey R.
AU - Song, Zhaoning
AU - Razooqi, Mohammed A.
AU - Phillips, Adam B.
AU - Bista, Sandip Singh
AU - Roland, Paul J.
AU - Alfadhili, Fadhil K.
AU - Ellingson, Randy J.
AU - Heben, Michael J.
AU - Li, Jian V.
AU - Yan, Yanfa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - An appropriate electrical back contact in CdTe solar cells is crucial to achieving high power conversion efficiency. In this work, a facile back surface treatment method for CdTe solar cells using hydroiodic acid (HI) is developed, and the effects of HI etching on the CdTe surfaces investigated. The electrical properties of the CdTe absorber and interfaces are characterized by current–voltage, capacitance–voltage, admittance spectroscopy, and complex capacitance spectroscopy measurements. The HI-etched devices show slightly higher apparent carrier concentrations than the control devices, suggesting an increased copper doping in the CdTe absorber. The potential barrier height of the back contact is reduced from 0.430 to 0.368 eV after the HI-treatment, accompanied by reduced contact resistance and carrier recombination. Additionally, the HI-treatment eliminates a defect signature at 0.409 eV. The HI-treatment effects lead to improved power conversion efficiency through enhancement of the fill factor, the short circuit current, and open circuit voltage.
AB - An appropriate electrical back contact in CdTe solar cells is crucial to achieving high power conversion efficiency. In this work, a facile back surface treatment method for CdTe solar cells using hydroiodic acid (HI) is developed, and the effects of HI etching on the CdTe surfaces investigated. The electrical properties of the CdTe absorber and interfaces are characterized by current–voltage, capacitance–voltage, admittance spectroscopy, and complex capacitance spectroscopy measurements. The HI-etched devices show slightly higher apparent carrier concentrations than the control devices, suggesting an increased copper doping in the CdTe absorber. The potential barrier height of the back contact is reduced from 0.430 to 0.368 eV after the HI-treatment, accompanied by reduced contact resistance and carrier recombination. Additionally, the HI-treatment eliminates a defect signature at 0.409 eV. The HI-treatment effects lead to improved power conversion efficiency through enhancement of the fill factor, the short circuit current, and open circuit voltage.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85081605755
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85081605755#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1002/solr.201800304
DO - 10.1002/solr.201800304
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85081605755
SN - 2367-198X
VL - 3
JO - Solar RRL
JF - Solar RRL
IS - 3
M1 - 1800304
ER -