The Formation of Different Phases of CuxTe and Their Effects on CdTe/CdS Solar Cells

Material studies and device applications of Cu_xTe in an NREL-developed CdTe solar cell structured as glass/Cd₂SnO₄/ZnSnO_x/CdS/CdTe are presented. The Cu_xTe primary back contact was formed by evaporating a Cu layer with various thicknesses at room temperature on HNO₃/H₃PO₄ (NP) solution etched CdTe layer. A post-annealing was then followed. The structural evolution and electrical properties of Cu_xTe were investigated. Cu/Te ratio and post-annealing temperature are two processing parameters in this study. The Cu_xTe phases are mainly controlled by the Cu/Te ratio. After a post-annealing at a low temperature, such as 100 °C, no Cu_xTe phase transformation from its as-deposited phase was observed. A post-annealing treatment at a higher temperature, such as 250 °C, can reveal the stoichiometric Cu_xTe phases based on the Cu/Te ratio used in the devices. But a post-annealing at a further higher temperature, such as 400 °C, resulted in a complicated Cu_xTe phase appearance. CuTe, Cu_1.4Te, and Cu₂Te are three major phases detected by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for different Cu thickness application annealed at 250 °C. Application of Cu thicker than 60 nm degrades open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and shunting resistance (R_sh), but increases series resistance (R_s). The correlation between device performance and the Cu_xTe back contact illustrates that the process used for forming the Cu₂Te back contact failed to produce good fill factor (FF) and also introduced higher barrier height. The best device was observed for a back contact with a mixed Cu_1.4Te and CuTe phases.