Sputtered HRT layers for CdTe solar cells

Author

Mahabaduge, H. ; Wieland, K. ; Carter, C. ; Plotnikov, V. ; Giolando, Dean

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Univ. of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

19-24 June 2011

Abstract

This work focuses on demonstrating the suitability of various high resistivity transparent (HRT) layers prepared by magnetron sputtering for sputtered CdS/CdTe cells. HRT buffer layers added between the transparent conducting oxide (TCO), and the CdS layer are important for reducing the effects of non-uniformities and shunts in large-area thin-film devices. CdS/CdTe cells were fabricated on Pilkington TEC 7 glass coated with a sputter deposited HRT layer of ZnO:Al or SnO₂. In some cases O₂ was added to the Ar sputter gas to increase the resistivity of the HRT buffer layers. Film properties were optimized for HRT performance by adjustments in the substrate deposition temperature, sputter gas pressure, and RF power. Best results have been obtained with reactively sputtered ZnO:Al with 2 % O₂ in Ar.

Keywords

cadmium compounds; coating techniques; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; sputtering; tellurium; Ar; CdS; CdTe; HRT buffer layers; HRT buffer layers resistivity; Pilkington TEC 7 glass; TCO; ZnO:Al; film properties; high resistivity transparent layers; magnetron sputtering; nonuniformities effects; solar cells; sputter deposited HRT layer; sputter gas pressure; sputtered HRT layers; substrate deposition temperature; thin-film devices; transparent conducting oxide; Buffer layers; Conductivity; Educational institutions; Performance evaluation; Photovoltaic cells; Substrates;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2011 37th IEEE

Conference_Location

Seattle, WA

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9966-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2011.6186197

Filename

6186197