Luminescence spectrum of cadmium chalcogenide photovoltaic film structures and their power enhancement

Abstract

A technology has been developed for producing photovoltaic film structures of CdTe, CdTe:In, CdTe/CdS by thermal vacuum deposition, which allows increasing their operating power. An analysis of their low- temperature photoluminescence spectra shows a significant increase in their spectral sensitivity. It has been experimentally shown that there is a clear correlation between the anomalous photovoltaic (APV) properties and the shape of the intrinsic photoluminescence band of obliquely deposited CdTe films. The photoluminescence spectrum of a polycrystalline CdTe film with APV property is qualitatively different from the spectra of a single crystal, large-block polycrystal and single microcrystal. The main contribution to the photoluminescence of the film comes from radiative recombination of free carriers (A-line with half-width ΔEA≈14.2±0.1 meV) and edge luminescence with a wide doublet structure (B- and C - lines with half- widths 18.5±0.1 meV and 32.2±0.1 meV). When doped with In impurities and as a result of heat treatment, the emission spectrum is greatly transformed in accordance with the change in the photoelectric properties of the film. In the photoluminescence spectrum of a CdTe layer in a CdTe/CdS heterostructure grown under identical technological conditions as a CdTe monolayer, an additional broad spectral line appears due to the presence of a heterointerface, the superhot region disappears, and the A-emission line narrows somewhat (ΔEA≈11.2±0.1 meV), which significantly differ the studied film structures from the known CdS/CdTe heterosystems of other authors. The proposed method for analyzing low-temperature photoluminescence spectra makes it possible to purposefully control the technology for manufacturing photovoltaic film structures. The results obtained are of interest for film optoelectronics and solar cell manufacturing.