VAPOR CHLORIDE TREATMENT STUDIES OF CdTe/CdS SOLAR CELLS

摘要

The most commonly used processing step for the fabrication of CdTe thin film solar cells is a heat treatment in the presence of CdCl{sub}2. This paper discusses results on the effect of a vapor CdCl{sub}2 heat treatment on the characteristics of thin film CdTe/CdS solar cells. The heat treatment was carried out in three different ambient environments, He, O{sub}2, and H{sub}2, and over a wide range of temperatures. Best solar cell performance to-date was achieved for cells heat-treated in the presence of O{sub}2. Solar cells heat-treated in He and H{sub}2 exhibited lower ff's and (V{sub}(OC))'s respectively. The process was optimized for high throughput and demonstrated state of the art (V{sub}(OC))'s and ff's for short annealing times.