Abstract
Polycrystalline Cd1-xMgxTe (CMT) thin films are a potential absorber material for two-junction thin-film tandem solar cell applications because the desired top cell bandgap range of 1.6 to 1.8 eV is readily obtained using CMT with only small resultant changes in the lattice constant from that of CdTe. Tandem devices require the top cell to have a transparent back contact to transmit the sub-bandgap spectrum to the bottom cell. Sputtered Cu-doped ZnTe (ZnTe:Cu) thin films, which offer potential as a transparent back contact interface layer, have been used successfully in CdTe devices. We apply ZnTe:Cu back contacts to CMT devices to continue development toward a transparent top cell. We describe the effects of depositing ZnTe:Cu at different temperatures and with different Cu contents on the net acceptor concentration, minority carrier lifetime, and device performance. We present here the highest reported CMT device efficiency of 9.6% at a bandgap of 1.57 eV.
Original language | American English |
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Pages | 405-410 |
Number of pages | 6 |
State | Published - 2010 |
Event | 2009 MRS Spring Meeting - San Francisco, CA, United States Duration: 13 Apr 2009 → 17 Apr 2009 |
Conference
Conference | 2009 MRS Spring Meeting |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | San Francisco, CA |
Period | 13/04/09 → 17/04/09 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-520-44397
Keywords
- tandem solar cells
- thin films