Recombination by Grain-Boundary Type in CdTe

John Moseley, Wyatt K. Metzger, Helio R. Moutinho, Naba Paudel, Harvey L. Guthrey, Yanfa Yan, Richard K. Ahrenkiel, Mowafak M. Al-Jassim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Scopus Citations

Abstract

We conducted cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum imaging and electron backscatter diffraction on the same microscopic areas of CdTe thin films to correlate grain-boundary (GB) recombination by GB "type." We examined misorientation-based GB types, including coincident site lattice (CSL) Σ=3, other-CSL (Σ=5-49), and general GBs (Σ>49), which make up ∼47%-48%, ∼6%-8%, and ∼44%-47%, respectively, of the GB length at the film back surfaces. Statistically averaged CL total intensities were calculated for each GB type from sample sizes of ≥97 GBs per type and were compared to the average grain-interior CL intensity. We find that only ∼16%-18% of Σ=3 GBs are active non-radiative recombination centers. In contrast, all other-CSL and general GBs are observed to be strong non-radiative centers and, interestingly, these GB types have about the same CL intensity. Both as-deposited and CdCl2-treated films were studied. The CdCl2 treatment reduces non-radiative recombination at both other-CSL and general GBs, but GBs are still recombination centers after the CdCl2 treatment.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number025702
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume118
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 14 Jul 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-64338

Keywords

  • cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy
  • geographic information systems (GIS)
  • grain boundaries (GBS)
  • II-VI semiconductors
  • structure
  • thin films

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Recombination by Grain-Boundary Type in CdTe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this