Characterization of CdS/CdTe Ultrathin-Film Solar Cells with Different CdS Thin-Film Thicknesses Obtained by RF Sputtering
Source abstract
Abstract
The development of semitransparent CdS/CdTe ultrathin solar cells has been delayed as a result of the activation annealing to which the device must be subjected, which may involve problems such as the sublimation of ultrathin films and the diffusion of Cd and S at the interface. In this work, CdS/CdTe ultrathin devices on soda-lime glass/SnO2:F/ZnO substrates were obtained by RF magnetron sputtering. CdS/CdTe ultrathin heterostructures were obtained with the following thicknesses for the CdS thin film: 70, 110, and 135 nm. The CdTe thickness film was kept constant at 620 nm. Subsequently, activation annealing with CdCl2 was carried out at 400 °C. Surface characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy, which indicated that the CdCl2 annealing tripled the CdTe thin films’ grain size. Raman characterization showed that CdS thin films deposited by RF sputtering present the first, the second, and the third longitudinal optical modes, indicating the good crystallinity of the CdS thin films. The study showed that the photovoltaic properties of the CdS/CdTe ultrathin devices improved as the CdS thicknesses decreased.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films · Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties · Semiconductor materials and interfaces
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Nanociencias y Nanotecnología, CINVESTAV-IPN, Ciudad de México 07360, Mexico
Facultad de Química, Energía-Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Santiago de Querétaro 76010, Mexico
Advanced Functional Polymers Group, Department of Chemistry, Institute for Materials Research (IMO), Hasselt University, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México 07738, Mexico
Departamento de Física, CINVESTAV-IPN, Apdo. Postal 14-740, Ciudad de México 07360, Mexico
Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Sección de Estado Sólido, CINVESTAV-IPN, Apdo. Postal 14-740, Ciudad de México 07360, Mexico
Funding
Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro · CONAHCYT
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