A pilot investigation on laser annealing for thin-film solar cells: Crystallinity and optical properties of laser-annealed CdTe thin films by using an 808-nm diode laser

AbstractTechnology variations involving Cu and Cl impurities are among the major performance influencing factors for CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells. CuCl and CdCl2 influence on the energetic diagram of impurity levels with respect to variation of deposition parameters has been investigated. A comparative analysis has been carried out by using low temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies (17-98K) of CdTe thin films in the device configuration (from CdS/CdTe inteface and CdTe sides). To study the effect of CuCl influence, as-deposited, annealed heterojunctions, with CuCl treatment of CdS have been investigated.

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Effect ofIn SituThermal Annealing on Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of CdS/CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Advances in Condensed Matter Physics ◽

10.1155/2016/8068396 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Alaa Ayad Al-mebir ◽

Paul Harrison ◽

Ali Kadhim ◽

Guanggen Zeng ◽

Judy Wu

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Pulsed Laser Deposition ◽

Pulsed Laser ◽

Laser Deposition ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Cdte Thin Film ◽

Cdte Solar Cells ◽

Cdte Thin Films

Anin situthermal annealing process (iTAP) has been introduced before the commonex situcadmium chloride (CdCl2) annealing to improve crystal quality and morphology of the CdTe thin films after pulsed laser deposition of CdS/CdTe heterostructures. A strong correlation between the two annealing processes was observed, leading to a profound effect on the performance of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells. Atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy show that the iTAP in the optimal processing window produces considerable CdTe grain growth and improves the CdTe crystallinity, which results in significantly improved optoelectronic properties and quantum efficiency of the CdS/CdTe solar cells. A power conversion efficiency of up to 7.0% has been obtained on thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells of absorber thickness as small as 0.75 μm processed with the optimal iTAP at 450°C for 10–20 min. This result illustrates the importance of controlling microstructures of CdTe thin films and iTAP provides a viable approach to achieve such a control.

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Comparison of Structural Properties of Thermally Evaporated CdTe Thin Films on Different Substrates

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.510-511.429 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 510-511 ◽

pp. 429-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

G.H. Tariq ◽

M. Anis-ur-Rehman

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Structural Properties ◽

Structural Parameters ◽

Lattice Parameter ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Suitable Material ◽

Direct Energy ◽

Cdte Thin Films

The direct energy band gap in the range of ~1.5eV and the high absorption coefficient (~105cm-1) makes Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) a suitable material for fabrication of thin film solar cells. Thin film solar cells based on CdTe (~ 1cm area) achieved efficiency of 15.6% on a laboratory scale. CdTe thin films were deposited by thermal evaporation technique under vacuum 2×10-5mbar on glass and stainless steel (SS) substrates. During deposition substrates temperature was kept same at 200C for all samples. The structural properties were determined by the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns. All samples exhibit polycrystalline nature. Dependence of different structural parameters such as lattice parameter, micro strain, and grain size and dislocation density on thickness was studied. Also the influence of the different substrates on these parameters was investigated. The analysis showed that the preferential orientation of films was dependent on the substrate type.

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Band gap grading and photovoltaic performance of solution-processed Cu(In,Ga)S2 thin-film solar cells

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics ◽

10.1039/c4cp03243h ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 16 (48) ◽

pp. 27112-27118 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

So Hyeong Sohn ◽

Noh Soo Han ◽

Yong Jin Park ◽

Seung Min Park ◽

Hee Sang An ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Photophysical Properties ◽

Photovoltaic Performance ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Electrical Characteristics ◽

Coating Methods

The photophysical properties of CIGS thin films, prepared by solution-based coating methods, are investigated to understand the correlation between the optical properties and the electrical characteristics of solar cells.

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Efficiency Enhancement by Optimizing Selenization Time for Co-Sputtered Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin Film Solar Cells

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.793.35 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 793 ◽

pp. 35-39

Author(s):

Luan Hong Sun ◽

Hong Lie Shen ◽

Hu Lin Huang ◽

Hui Rong Shang

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Grain Size ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Efficiency Enhancement ◽

Diffraction Angle

To reveal the effects of annealing condition on CZTSSe thin film solar cells, co-sputtering and subsequent selenization were used to prepare CZTSSe thin films. Structural, morphological and optical properties of CZTSSe thin films were investigated. CZTSSe thin films with various Se/(S+Se) ratio ranging from 0.69-0.78 were obtained. Representative peaks corresponding to CZTSSe in XRD and Raman results showed a slight shift to lower diffraction angle and wavenumbers. Selenization time significantly influenced the morphologies of CZTSSe films and the gradual grown up grain size was observed. VOCdeficit values down to 839 mV was achieved for the best cell. CZTSSe solar cell with the selenization time of 10 min showed a best conversion efficiency of 5.32%, which presented a 50% enhancement comparing to the solar cells with insufficient and over-selenized absorbers.

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