Abstract
We compared thermal stability, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and fill factor values of single-crystal Cadmium telluride (CdTe) grown using the vertical Bridgman (VB) technique and doped with group V elements (phosphorus and arsenic), and group Ⅰ element (sodium), followed by an annealing process. The sodium-doped CdTe maintained a hole density of 1016 cm−3 or higher; after annealing for a long time, this decreased to 1015 cm−3 or less. The arsenic-doped CdTe maintained a hole density of approximately 1016 cm−3 even after the annealing process; however its bulk minority carrier lifetime decreased by approximately 10%. The phosphorus-doped CdTe maintained its properties after the annealing process, ultimately achieving a hole density of ~1016 cm−3 and a minority carrier lifetime of ~40 ns. The characteristics of a single-crystal solar cell were evaluated using a solar cell device that contained single-crystal CdTe with various dopants. The sodium-doped sample exhibited poor interfacial properties, and its performance decreased rapidly during annealing. The samples doped with group V elements exhibited stable characteristics even during long-term annealing. We concluded, therefore, that group V elements dopants are more suitable for CdTe single-crystal-based solar cell applications involving thermal stress conditions, such as space missions or extreme fabrication temperature environments.
Highlights
Cadmium telluride (CdTe)-based photovoltaic (PV) cells, one of the most commercially successful solar energy harnessing technologies, are used for producing low-cost and high-efficiency solar panels
These results indicated that the carrier lifetimes of the CdTe samples doped with P and As were shortened by approximately 5–10% after the annealing process
Individual CdTe single crystals doped with Na as well as
Summary
CdTe-based photovoltaic (PV) cells, one of the most commercially successful solar energy harnessing technologies, are used for producing low-cost and high-efficiency solar panels. Conventional polycrystalline CdTe solar cells are approximately 22% efficient as a result of optimizations such as increasing the grain size, open-circuit voltage (Voc ), short-circuit current (Jsc ), and fill factor (FF) values [1] This efficiency is still below the Shockley–Queisser limit [2,3], and various methods have been proposed [4,5] to further improve the performance of CdTe solar cells. Metzger et al [11] fabricated a single-crystal CdTe phosphorus (CdTe:P) cell by doping the anionic site with P (a group V element) to overcome the limitations of CdTe materials. They maintained the Voc between 840 and 880 mV and obtained a hole density exceeding 1016 cm−3.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
