Implications of conductive grain boundaries in Chlorine-treated CdTe solar cells

摘要

treated samples exhibit a more homogenous and enhanced current flow across the grains as compared to the as-deposited samples. Under high bias, grain boundaries dominate current flow when the main junction is reverse biased and conducting current in reverse breakdown. The results are interpreted as resulting from the improved crystallinity of the CdTe with reduced p-type doping along the grain boundaries. Further, implications of these grain boundaries and guidelines for optimal device microstructure are discussed.