Quantitative Determination of Grain Boundary Recombination Velocity in CdTe by Combination of Cathodoluminescence Measurements and Numerical Simulations

Ana Kanevce, John Moseley, Darius Kuciauskas, Mowafak Al-Jassim, Wyatt Metzger

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

4 Scopus Citations

Abstract

We developed a 2D numerical model simulating cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements in CdTe. Using this model we analyze how various material parameters impact the CL contrast and intensity observed in the measured signal, and determine if and when we can accurately determine the value of grain boundary recombination rate. In addition to grain boundary (GB) recombination, the grain size and its ratio to the carrier diffusion length impact the results of the measurement. Holding the grain interior and GB recombination rates constant, we find that as the grain size increases and becomes larger than the diffusion length, the observed CL contrast is larger. In a small grain size material the surface recombination lowers the overall intensity of the signal, but does not impact the observed contrast significantly. In a large grain size material, high surface recombination velocity can lower the observed contrast in a measurement. This model in combination with an experiment is used to quantify the grain boundary recombination velocity in polycrystalline CdTe before and after the CdCl2 treatment.

Original languageAmerican English
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Dec 2015
Event2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC) - New Orleans, Louisiana
Duration: 14 Jun 201519 Jun 2015

Conference

Conference2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)
CityNew Orleans, Louisiana
Period14/06/1519/06/15

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5J00-63547

Keywords

  • cathodoluminescence
  • CdTe
  • grain boundaries
  • numerical simulations

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