High-efficiency thin-film cadmium telluride photovoltaic cells. Annual technical report, January 20, 1996--January 19, 1997

Abstract

The University of Toledo photovoltaics group has been instrumental in developing rf sputtering for CDs/CdTe thin-film solar cells. During the third phase of the present contract our work focussed on efforts to determine factors which limit the efficiency in our {open_quotes}all-sputtered{close_quotes} thin-film CdTe solar cells on soda-lime glass. We find that our all-sputtered cells, which are deposited at substantially lower temperature than those by sublimation or vapor deposition, require less aggressive CdCl{sub 2} treatments than do other deposition techniques and this is presumably related to CDs/CdTe interdiffusion. The CDs/CdTe interdiffusion process has been studied by several methods, including photoluminescence and capacitance-voltage measurements. Furthermore, we have deposited special thin bilayer films on quartz and borosilicate glass. Interdiffusion in these thin bilayers have been probed by Rutherford backscattering, with collaborators at Case Western Reserve University, and grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS), with collaborators at the University at Buffalo and Brookhaven National Lab. Also, in order better to understand the properties of the ternary alloy material, we used laser physical vapor deposition to prepare a series of CdS{sub x}Te{sub 1-x} films on borosilicate glass. The composition of the alloy films was determined by wavelength dispersive x-ray spectroscopy at NREL. These films are currently being investigated by us and other groups at NREL and IEC.