Control of grain size in sublimation-grown CdTe, and the improvement in performance of devices with systematically increased grain size

Major, Jonathan, Proskuryakov, Yuri, Durose, Ken, Zoppi, Guillaume and Forbes, Ian (2010) Control of grain size in sublimation-grown CdTe, and the improvement in performance of devices with systematically increased grain size. Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, 94 (6). pp. 1107-1112. ISSN 0927-0248

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PDF (Article) Major JD, Proskuryakov, YY, Durose D, Zoppi G and Forbes I (2010) Control of grain size in sublimation-grown.pdf Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

A method to control the grain size of CdTe thin films deposited by close space sublimation using chamber pressure is demonstrated. Grain diameter is shown to increase in the pressure range 2–200 Torr, following the linear relationship D (?m)=0.027×P (Torr)+0.90. A mechanism is proposed to explain the dominance of the 111 preferred orientation in the small-grained, but not the large-grained films. For a series of CdTe/CdS solar cells in which the only variable was grain size, the performance parameters were seen to increase from 0.54% (0.94 ?m grains) up to a plateau of 11.3% (?3.6 ?m grains). This corresponds to the point at which the series resistance is no longer dominated by grain boundaries, but by the contacts.

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