Thin films of cadmium telluride produced using stacked elemental layer (SEL) processing in a variety of annealing environments [solar cells]

Author

Bhatti, M.T. ; Groarke, E.P. ; Miles, R.W. ; Carter, M.J. ; Hill, R.

Author_Institution

Newcastle Polytech., UK

fYear

1991

fDate

7-11 Oct 1991

Firstpage

1141

Abstract

The stacked elemental layer (SEL) technique has been used to synthesize thin films of CdTe for solar cell applications. In this work, Cd and Te layers were deposited using thermal evaporation and the layers annealed in nitrogen, vacuum, or air at temperatures in the range 350°C-600°C for 15 min. Transmittance and reflectance data, X-ray diffraction data, and scanning electron microscopy observations of the surface topology are given. Post-synthesis annealing of the layers using CuCl₂/CdCl₂/methanol was also investigated. This treatment was found to substantially increase the grain size

Keywords

II-VI semiconductors; X-ray diffraction examination of materials; annealing; cadmium compounds; evaporation; grain size; scanning electron microscope examination of materials; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; 15 min; 350 to 600 degC; CdTe; X-ray diffraction; annealing environments; grain size; reflectance; scanning electron microscopy; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; stacked elemental layer; surface topology; thermal evaporation; transmittance; Annealing; Cadmium compounds; Electrons; Nitrogen; Photovoltaic cells; Reflectivity; Tellurium; Temperature distribution; Transistors; X-ray diffraction;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV

Print_ISBN

0-87942-636-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1991.169389

Filename

169389