Approaches to improve the Voc of CDTE devices: Device modeling and thinner devices, alternative back contacts

An existing commercial process to develop thin film CdTe superstrate cells with a lifetime tau=1-3 ns results in Voc= 810-850 mV which is 350 mV lower than expected for CdTe with a bandgap EG = 1.5 eV. Voc is limited by 1.) SRH recombination in the space charge region; and 2.) the Cu2Te back contact to CdTe, which, assuming a 0.3 eV CdTe/Cu2Te barrier, exhibits a work function of phi Cu2Te= 5.5 eV compared to the CdTe valence band of Ev,CdTe=5.8 eV. Proposed solutions to develop CdTe devices with increased Voc are: 1.) reduce SRH recombination by thinning the CdTe layer to ≤ 1 mum; and 2.) develop an ohmic contact back contact using a material with phi BC≥5.8 eV. This is consistent with simulations using 1DSCAPS modeling of CdTe/CdS superstrate cells under AM 1.5 conditions.;Two types of CdTe devices are presented. The first type of CdTe device utilizes a window/CdTe stack device with an initial 3-9 mum CdTe layer which is then chemically thinned resulting in regions of the CdTe film with thickness less than 1 mum. The CdTe surface was contacted with a liquid junction quinhydrone-Pt (QH-Pt) probe which enables rapid repeatable Voc measurements on CdTe before and after thinning. In four separate experiments, the window/CdTe stack devices with thinned CdTe exhibited a Voc increase of 30-170 mV, which if implemented using a solid state contact could cut the Voc deficit in half. The second type of CdTe device utilizes C61 PCBM as a back contact to the CdTe, selected since PCBM has a valence band maximum energy (VBM) of 5.8 eV. The PCBM films were grown by two different chemistries and the characterization of the film properties and device results are discussed. The device results show that PCBM exhibits a blocking contact with a 0.6 eV Schottky barrier and possible work function of phiPCBM = 5.2 eV.