Abstract
An ability to liftoff or separate the thin-film polycrystalline CdTe from the CdS, without the use of chemical etches, has enabled direct electrical characterization of the as-processed CdTe near the CdTe/CdS heterointerface. We use this ability to understand how a back-contact, nitric-phosphoric (NP) etch affects the grain boundaries throughout the film. Quantitative determination of thegrain-boundary barrier potentials and estimates of doping density near the grain perimeter are determined from theoretical fits to measurements of the current vs. temperature. Estimates of the bulk doping are determined from high-frequency resistivity measurements. The light and dark barrier potentials change after the NP etch, and the origin of this change is postulated. Also, a variable dopingdensity within the grains of non-etched material has been determined. These results allow a semi-quantitative grain-boundary band diagram to be drawn that should aid in determining more-accurate two-dimensional models for polycrystalline CdTe solar cells.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 5 |
| State | Published - 1998 |
| Event | 2nd World Conference on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion - Vienna, Austria Duration: 6 Jul 1998 → 10 Jul 1998 |
Conference
| Conference | 2nd World Conference on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion |
|---|---|
| City | Vienna, Austria |
| Period | 6/07/98 → 10/07/98 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-520-23915