Development and analysis of Cu-doped ZnTe for use as a back contact interface for CdS/CdTe solar cells

Abstract

It is well known that the losses associated with the back contact of typical CdS/CdTe solar cell devices can be a substantial part of the total external loss. Previous modeling has indicated that these losses will be significant, unless the value of specific contact resistance (rc) at this interface is reduced to ∼0.10 Ω‐cm2 or less. Although several studies have inferred values of rc near this level, few have attempted to measure directly the value of rc as a function of various processing conditions. One reason for this situation is the difficulty in fabricating the appropriate patterns for direct analysis of rc. In the following paper, initial characterization studies of sputter‐deposited, Cu‐doped ZnTe are documented. Additionally, recent attempts to measure directly the contact resistance associated with the two interfaces of the Ni/ZnTe/CdTe contact stack, are presented and discussed. Preliminary testing of these processes has been conducted using sputter‐deposited test structures representing the individual interfaces of a typical Ni/ZnTe/CdTe contact stack. Contact resistance analysis of these structures has allowed for the estimation of rc suggesting that, for the conditions studied, the contact stack appears to meet the criterion of yielding an rc value <0.1 Ω‐cm2.