Radiofrequency pulsed glow discharge-ToFMS depth profiling of a CdTe solar cell: A comparative study versus time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Abstract

Improvement of CdTe solar cell performance with discharge control during film deposition by magnetron sputteringIn this manuscript, the authors compare and contrast depth profile data generated on the same commercially available CdTe cell using two analytical techniques, Time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS), which is a well-established technique, and radiofrequency pulsed glow discharge (rf-PGD)-ToFMS, which is an emerging technique. The authors demonstrate that pulsed-rf-GD-ToFMS allows for a rapid analysis over a large (4 mm diameter) area of the sample at moderate vacuum conditions, while ToF-SIMS analyzes smaller regions (typically about 200 Â 200 lm 2 ) of the sample at ultrahigh vacuum conditions; the authors note that ToF-SIMS enables three dimensional analysis at micron or better lateral resolution. Both techniques show, in general, good agreement; however, some discrepancies are observed and discussed herein.

Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry

“…35,40 It should be highlighted that this instrument has been introduced very recently into the market by Horiba Jobin Yvon, under the denomination of Pulsed Profile (PP)-TOFMS. [41][42][43] In Europe, the development of GD techniques and the inter-relationship in the glow-discharge community and therefore also in the GDMS community was mainly maintained by national user groups and by the VG 9000 user groups. In 1994 the European Working Group on Glow Discharge Spectroscopy (EW-GDS) was established as an additional community combining industrial users with academic research and training institutions, resulting in a network project ''Glow Discharge Spectrometry for Spectrochemical Analysis'' (Contract No SMT4-CT- .…”

Atomic spectrometry update. Review of advances in the analysis of metals, chemicals and functional materials

“…For example, a radiofrequency GD-TOF-MS instrument has been applied to depth proling of a CdTe solar cell. 183 The reported advantages of the technique included large area sampling (4 mm diameter) at moderate vacuum conditions and 3D analysis with lateral resolution at the sub mm level. The performance of the GD-TOF-MS system was compared with that of TOF-SIMS and in the main good agreement was obtained.…”

Depth Profiling At A Steel-Aluminum Interface Using Slow-Flow Direct Current Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry

“…11 This instrument type was successfully used for the profiling of ion implants in silicon substrates 12 and for the profiling of layered materials (Nb/Al 13 , Nb1/Al1-x-Cox 14 and Si/Co 15 ) of various thicknesses. Furthermore, applications of this instrument type in solar cell research for the profiling of silicon thin films 16 and cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells 17 have been investigated. Another notable feature of this instrument is the ability to generate molecular ions, which allows for the characterization of polymer-based composite materials.…”