Abstract
Studies of junction photoluminescence (PL) in CdTe/CdS solar cells reveal that back-contact application produces a dramatic qualitative change in the junction picosecond-PL spectrum. Prior to contact application, the spectrum has two peaks at energies of 1.501 eV and 1.457 eV, corresponding to recombination in regions of CdTeS alloy with 2% and 12% sulfur content, respectively. After contactapplication, the spectrum consists of a single broad peak at 1.48 eV. Previous studies have shown that the nitric-phosphoric (NP) etch used in the contact procedure produces a layer of elemental tellurium (Te) on the CdTe surface. We postulate that the change in the near-junction PL spectrum is caused by a grain-boundary field effect due to perturbations of the grain-boundary conductivity andFermi level.
| Original language | American English |
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| Number of pages | 8 |
| State | Published - 1998 |
| Event | National Center for Photovoltaics Program Review Meeting - Denver, Colorado Duration: 8 Sep 1998 → 11 Sep 1998 |
Conference
| Conference | National Center for Photovoltaics Program Review Meeting |
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| City | Denver, Colorado |
| Period | 8/09/98 → 11/09/98 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-520-25684