Current-conduction mechanisms in Au/n-CdTe Schottky solar cells in the wide temperature range

Abstract

The current-conduction mechanisms in Au/n-CdTe Schottky solar cells have been investigated by considering the series resistance (Rs) effect in the temperature range 120–380K. The obtained values of main electrical parameters such as zero-bias barrier height (Φbo), ideality factor (n) and Rs were found strongly function of temperature. While the Φbo increases, the n decreases with the increasing temperature. Such behavior can be explained on the basis of the thermionic emission (TE) theory with the Gaussian distribution (GD) of the barrier height (BH) being related to inhomogeneities at the metal/semiconductor (M/S) interface. The results show that the conduction mechanism in Au/n-CdTe Schottky solar cells can be successfully explained on the basis of the TE mechanism with a GD of the BHs. In addition, the capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics of Au/n-CdTe solar cells have been investigated at room temperature and 1MHz.