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Development of ZnTe Contacts for Cd1-xMgxTe Thin-Film Solar Cells for Tandem Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Joel N. Duenow ,
Ramesh Dhere ,
Jian Li ,
Wyatt K. Metzger ,
Anna Duda  and
Tim A. Gessert
Joel N. Duenow
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Ramesh Dhere
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Jian Li
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Wyatt K. Metzger
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Anna Duda
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Tim A. Gessert
Affiliation:
[email protected], National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
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Abstract

Polycrystalline Cd1-xMgxTe (CMT) thin films are a potential absorber material for two-junction thin-film tandem solar cell applications because the desired top cell bandgap range of 1.6 to 1.8 eV is readily obtained using CMT with only small resultant changes in the lattice constant from that of CdTe. Tandem devices require the top cell to have a transparent back contact to transmit the sub-bandgap spectrum to the bottom cell. Sputtered Cu-doped ZnTe (ZnTe:Cu) thin films, which offer potential as a transparent back contact interface layer, have been used successfully in CdTe devices. We apply ZnTe:Cu back contacts to CMT devices to continue development toward a transparent top cell. We describe the effects of depositing ZnTe:Cu at different temperatures and with different Cu contents on the net acceptor concentration, minority carrier lifetime, and device performance. We present here the highest reported CMT device efficiency of 9.6% at a bandgap of 1.57 eV.

Keywords

photovoltaicII-VIthin film
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1165: Symposium M – Thin-Film Compound Semiconductor Photovoltaics–2009 , 2009 , 1165-M09-05
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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