Study of difluorochloromethane activation treatment on low substrate temperature deposited CdTe solar cells

Salavei, Andrei; Rimmaudo, I.; Piccinelli, Fabio; Zabierowski, P.; Romeo, Alessandro

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2013.01.019

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As for as-deposited CdTe film, the XRD pattern shows that all the diffraction peaks match those of the cubic phase structure of CdTe film (JCPDS card No. 15–0770)25.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalyst- and template-free low-temperature in situ growth of n-type CdS nanowire on p-type CdTe film and p-n heterojunction properties

Cai

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

CdS is an important semiconductor used in optoelectronic devices. Simple techniques for growing CdS nanostructures are thus essential at a low cost. This study presents a novel method for growing singlecrystal n-type CdS nanowires on p-type CdTe films by thermal annealing in an H 2 S/N 2 mixed gas flow, which does not require the help of a catalyst or template. The formation process and growth mechanism of the nanowires are investigated. Well-dispersed whiskerlike CdS nanostructures are obtained at an appropriate annealing temperature and duration. We suggest that the stress-driving mechanism of nanowire formation may contribute to the growth of CdS nanowires, and that the evaporation of Te through the boundaries of the CdS grain seeds plays an important role in the sustainable growth of nanowire. In addition, CdS/CdTe heterojunction device is fabricated on Mo glass. The I-V characteristic of the heterojunction in dark shows typical rectifying diode behavior. The turn-on voltage can be regulated by annealing conditions. Meanwhile, the obvious photovoltaic effect is obtained on the in situ growth heterojunction prepared at low annealing temperature. Hence, this is a new fabricated method for CdTe-based materials in the field of energy conversion.CdS is a well-studied semiconductor with versatile properties, such as a direct band gap of 2.4 eV at room temperature, a high refractive index, excellent transport properties and good chemical and thermal stability. It has been used extensively in photovoltaic devices, light-emitting diodes in flat panel displays, transistors, and logic gates 1-3 . Low-dimensional CdS nanostructures, such as nanorods, nanowires, and nanotubes, have attracted increasing attention because of their superior optical, physical, electronic and catalytic properties compared with traditional thin film and bulk materials [4][5][6] . A wide range of applications for nanodevices and nanosystems based on these CdS nanostructures has recently been explored, including a thin film transistor fabricated on CdS nanoribbons 4 , and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [15][16][17] . Although each of these methods has its own advantages, most involve a solution process or organic solvents 13,18 , and the reaction process is uncontrollable. The CVD method is known to be effective in the large-scale fabrication of CdS nanostructures. However, due to the high sublimation temperature of CdS powder, the growth temperature of CdS nanostructures is as high as 800 °C 12,19 , and the growth process requires the use of an Au catalyst 20 . Unfortunately, Au functions as an impurity, trapping electrons and holes in the nanostructure, and affecting the performance of the device. Templates, such as anodic aluminum oxide 9,21 , which are used to prepare nanowires, can also yield better CdS arrays. However, this method also needs Au catalyst to grow nanostructure 9 . So, an effective method

show abstract

“…As for as-deposited CdTe film, the XRD pattern shows that all the diffraction peaks match those of the cubic phase structure of CdTe film (JCPDS card No. 15–0770)25.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalyst- and template-free low-temperature in situ growth of n-type CdS nanowire on p-type CdTe film and p-n heterojunction properties

Cai

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…1. For samples treated at 310°C morphology is very similar to the as-deposited samples, so the recrystallization does not really start at this temperature [4]. In Table 1 maximum grain width for different annealing temperature is presented, the majority of the grains have a size of around 1 μm in diameter.…”

Section: Afm Analysismentioning

confidence: 89%

“…This activation treatment can be performed in different ways by applying CdCl 2 [2,3] or chlorine containing gases [4,5]. In the first case, CdCl 2 can be evaporated or deposited by rinsing the layer in methanol solution and then annealing the stacks in air, in the second case gases such as difluorochloromethane or HCl [5] are flowed into glass chamber inside a furnace at high temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CdCl 2 activation treatment: A comprehensive study by monitoring the annealing temperature

Rimmaudo

Salavei

et al. 2015

Thin Solid Films

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The chlorination (also known as activation) is essential to high quality CdTe solar cells production. Many different ways to perform the treatment have been presented in the past [1][2] [4], but it is still not clear the reasons that make one more effective than others. To clarify the behavior of the chlorine will probably help to match the right chlorination method to the absorber deposition process and also reduce the optimization time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…vacuum evaporation, dipping, vapor transport, etc..) [1], [2]. Many physical and electrical changes are attributed to the activation of the device: recrystallization (grain growth and orientation change), grain boundaries passivation [3], doping of the CdTe [4], etc. In the 2010, Romeo et al [1] demonstrated that the transformation of the absorber is connected to the action of chlorine activating the CdTe by using a Cl containing gas atmosphere, more recently Major et al [5] presented an effective non toxic activation treatment replacing the CdCl 2 with MgCl 2 and obtaining similar results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cl Diffusion in CdTe Solar Cells Activated by Gaseous CHClF2Atmosphere

Rimmaudo

Mis-Fernández

Rejón

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE 44th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The activation treatment is consider of dramatic importance for CdTe solar cells. The most effective activation processes are based on chlorine compounds. However it is still not clear how Cl diffusion depends on the chlorination method. In this paper we activated CdTe solar cells by gaseous CHClF 2 and investigated the Cl presence by TEM and XPS. Preliminary results show clear presence of Cl trapped at the CdS/CdTe interface. Thanks to the flexibility of the gaseous activation treatment, further samples will be prepared in order to force larger quantity of Cl into the absorber and they will be similarly analyzed. TEM will be used to investigate Cl presence at grain boundaries and XPS to determine the compounds formed by Cl.

show abstract

Study of difluorochloromethane activation treatment on low substrate temperature deposited CdTe solar cells

Cited by 29 publications

References 10 publications

Catalyst- and template-free low-temperature in situ growth of n-type CdS nanowire on p-type CdTe film and p-n heterojunction properties

Catalyst- and template-free low-temperature in situ growth of n-type CdS nanowire on p-type CdTe film and p-n heterojunction properties

CdCl 2 activation treatment: A comprehensive study by monitoring the annealing temperature

Cl Diffusion in CdTe Solar Cells Activated by Gaseous CHClF2Atmosphere

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About