Effect of substrate temperature and oxygen plasma treatment on the properties of magnetron-sputtered CdS for solar cell applications

Cadmium sulfide(CdS)is an n-type semiconductor with excellent electrical conductivity that is widely used as an electron transport material(ETM)in solar cells.At present,numerous methods for preparing CdS thin films have emerged,among which magnetron sputtering(MS)is one of the most commonly used vacuum techniques.For this type of technique,the substrate temperature is one of the key deposition parameters that affects the interfacial properties between the target film and substrate,determining the specific growth habits of the films.Herein,the effect of substrate temperature on the microstructure and electrical properties of magnetron-sputtered CdS(MS-CdS)films was studied and applied for the first time in hydrothermally deposited antimony selenosulfide(Sb_(2)(S,Se)_(3))solar cells.Adjusting the substrate temperature not only results in the design of the flat and dense film with enhanced crystallinity but also leads to the formation of an energy level arrangement with a Sb_(2)(S,Se)_(3)layer that is more favorable for electron transfer.In addition,we developed an oxygen plasma treatment for CdS,reducing the parasitic absorption of the device and resulting in an increase in the short-circuit current density of the solar cell.This study demonstrates the feasibility of MS-CdS in the fabrication of hydrothermal Sb_(2)(S,Se)_(3)solar cells and provides interface optimization strategies to improve device performance.

A 9% efficiency of flexible Mo-foil-based Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells by improving CdS buffer layer and heterojunction interface

Flexible Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4(CZTSSe)solar cells show great potential applications due to low-cost,nontoxicity,and stability.The device performances under an especial open circuit voltage(VOC)are limited by the defect recombination of CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction interface.We improve the deposition technique to obtain compact CdS layers without any pinholes for flexible CZTSSe solar cells on Mo foils.The efficiency of the device is improved from 5.7%to 6.86%by highquality junction interface.Furthermore,aiming at the S loss of CdS film,the S source concentration in deposition process is investigated to passivate the defects and improve the CdS film quality.The flexible Mo-foil-based CZTSSe solar cells are obtained to possess a 9.05%efficiency with a VOC of 0.44 V at an optimized S source concentration of 0.68 mol/L.Systematic physical measurements indicate that the S source control can effectively suppress the interface recombination and reduce the VOCdeficit.For the CZTSSe device bending characteristics,the device efficiency is almost constant after1000 bends,manifesting that the CZTSSe device has an excellent mechanical flexibility.The effective improvement strategy of CdS deposition is expected to provide a new perspective for promoting the conversion efficiency of CZTSSe solar cells.

Deep level transient spectroscopy investigation of deep levels in CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells with Te:Cu back contact

Deep levels in Cds/CdTe thin film solar cells have a potent influence on the electrical property of these devices. As an essential layer in the solar cell device structure, back contact is believed to induce some deep defects in the CdTe thin film. With the help of deep level transient spectroscopy （DLTS）, we study the deep levels in CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells with Te：Cu back contact. One hole trap and one electron trap are observed. The hole trap H1, localized at Ev＋0.128~eV, originates from the vacancy of Cd （VCd. The electron trap E1, found at Ec-0.178~eV, is considered to be correlated with the interstitial Cui= in CdTe.

Novel two-step CdS deposition strategy to improve the performance of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cell

Kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4(CZTSSe)solar cells have drawn worldwide attention for their promising photovoltaics performance and earth-abundant element composition,yet the record efficiency of this type of device is still far lower than its theoretical conversion efficiency.Undesirable band alignment and severe non-radiative recombination at CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction interfaces are the major causes limiting the current/voltage output and overall device performance.Herein,we propose a novel two-step CdS deposition strategy to improve the quality of CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction interface and thereby improve the performance of CZTSSe solar cell.The two-step strategy includes firstly pre-deposits CdS thin layer on CZTSSe absorber layer by chemical bath deposition(CBD),followed with a mild heat treatment to facilitate element inter-diffusion,and secondly deposits an appropriate thickness of CdS layer by CBD to cover the whole surface of pre-deposited CdS and CZTSSe layers.The solar energy conversion efficiency of CZTSSe solar cells with two-step deposited CdS layer approaches to 8.76%(with an active area of about 0.19 cm2),which shows an encouraging improvement of over 87.98%or 30.16%compared to the devices with traditional CBD-deposited CdS layer without and with the mild annealing process,respectively.The performance enhancement by the two-step CdS deposition is attributed to the formation of more favorable band alignment at CZTSSe/CdS interface as well as the effective decrease in interfacial recombination paths on the basis of material and device characterizations.The two-step CdS deposition strategy is simple but effective,and should have large room to improve the quality of CZTSSe/CdS heterojunction interface and further lift up the conversion efficiency of CZTSSe solar cells.

Evaluation of electrical and optical characteristics of ZnO/CdS/CIS thin film solar cell

In this study, device modeling and simulation are conducted to explain the effects of each layer thickness and temperature on the performance of ZnO/CdS/CIS thin film solar cells. Also, the thicknesses of the CIS and CdS absorber layers are considered in this work theoretically and experimentally. The calculations of solar cell performances are based on the solutions of the well-known three coupling equations： the continuity equation for holes and electrons and the Poisson equation. Our simulated results show that the efficiency increases by reducing the CdS thickness. Increasing the CIS thickness can increase the efficiency but it needs more materials. The efficiency is more than 19% for a CIS layer with a thickness of 2 μm. CIS nanoparticles are prepared via the polyol route and purified through centrifugation and precipitation processes.Then nanoparticles are dispersed to obtain stable inks that could be directly used for thin-film deposition via spin coating.We also obtain x-ray diffraction（XRD） peak intensities and absorption spectra for CIS experimentally. Finally, absorption spectra for the CdS window layer in several deposition times are investigated experimentally.

Performance improvement of CdS/Cu(In,Ga)Se_2 solar cells after rapid thermal annealing

In this paper, we investigated the effect of rapid thermal annealing （RTA） on solar cell performance. An opto-electric conversion efficiency of 11.75% （Voc = 0.64 V, Jsc = 25.88 mA/cm2, FF=72.08%） was obtained under AM 1.5G when the cell was annealed at 300℃ for 30 s. The annealed solar cell showed an average absolute efficiency 1.5% higher than that of the as-deposited one. For the microstructure analysis and the physical phase confirmation, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Raman spectra, front surface reflection （FSR）, internal quantum efficiency （IQE）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） were respectively applied to distinguish the causes inducing the efficiency variation. All experimental results implied that the RTA eliminated recombination centers at the p-n junction, reduced the surface optical losses, enhanced the blue response of the CdS buffer layer, and improved the ohmic contact between Mo and Cu（In, Ga）Se2 （CIGS） layers. This leaded to the improved performance of CIGS solar cell.

In-situ growth of a CdS window layer by vacuum thermal evaporation for CIGS thin film solar cell applications

Highly crystalline and transparent CdS films are grown by utilizing the vacuum thermal evaporation （VTE） method. The structural, surface morphological, and optical properties of the films are studied and compared with those prepared by chemical bath deposition （CBD）. It is found that the films deposited at a high substrate temperature （200 ℃） have a preferential orientation along （002） which is consistent with CBD-grown films. Absorption spectra reveal that the films are highly transparent and the optical band gap values are found to be in a range of 2.44 eV-2.56 eV. Culnl_xGaxSe2 （CIGS） solar cells with in-situ VTE-grown CdS films exhibit higher values of Voc together with smaller values of Jsc than those from CBD. Eventually the conversion efficiency and fill factor become slightly better than those from the CBD method. Our work suggests that the in-situ thermal evaporation method can be a competitive alternative to the CBD method, particularly in the physical- and vacuum-based CIGS technology.

Green Approach for <i>In-Situ</i>Growth of CdS Nanorods in Low Band Gap Polymer Network for Hybrid Solar Cell Applications

In-situ growth of CdS nanorods (NRs) has been demonstrated via solvothermal, in a low band gap polymer, poly [[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy] benzo [1,2-b:4,5-b’] dithiophene-2,6-diyl] [3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl) carbonyl] thieno [3,4-b] thiophenediyl]] (PTB7). It is a high yielding, green approach as it removes use of volatile and hazardous chemicals such as pyridine as ligand which are conventionally used to synthesize precursors of CdS (NRs). Moreover the solvothermal process is a zero emission process being a close vessel synthesis and hence no material leaching into the atmosphere during the synthesis. The PTB7:CdS nanocomposite has been characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy techniques. The photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy study of PTB7 with CdS NRs has shown significant PL quenching by the incorporation of CdS NRs in PTB7;this shows that CdS NRs are efficient electron acceptors with the PTB7. The PTB7:CdS is used as active layer in the fabrication of hybrid solar cells (HSC) as donor-acceptor combination in the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) geometry. The HSCs fabricated using this active layer without any additional supporting fullerene based electron acceptor has given power conversion efficiency of above 1%.

Power Conversion Enhancement of CdS/CdTe Solar Cell Interconnected with Tunnel Diode

One of the most promising solar cell devices is cadmium telluride (CdTe) based. These cells however, have their own problems of stability and degradation in efficiency. Measurements show that CdS/CdTe solar cell has high series resistance which degrades the performance of solar cell energy conversion. Both active layers (CdS and CdTe) had been fabricated by thermal evaporation and tested individually. It was found that CdS window layer of 300 nm have the lowest series resistance with maximum light absorption. While 5 - 7 μm CdTe absorber layer absorbed more than 90% of the incident light with minimum series resistance. A complete CdS/CdTe solar cell was fabricated and tested. It was found that deposited cell without heat treatment shows that the short circuit current increment decreases as the light intensity increases. This type of deposited cell has low conversion efficiency. The energy conversion efficiency was improved by heat treatment, depositing heavily doped layer at the back of the cell and minimizing the contact resistivity by depositing material with resistivity less than 1 m??cm2. All these modifications were not enough because the back contact is non-ohmic. Tunnel diode of CdTe (p++)/CdS (n++) was deposited in the back of the cell. The energy conversion efficiency was improved by more than 7%.

退火时间及后退火对Cu_(2)(Cd x Zn_(1-x))SnS_(4)CdS薄膜太阳电池性能影响的研究

Cu_(2)ZnSnS_(4)薄膜因其元素地壳含量丰富、无毒且具有优异的光电性能,受到研究者的广泛关注。本文基于纳米墨水法用Cd部分取代Zn制成了Cu_(2)(Cd x Zn_(1-x))SnS_(4)(CCZTS)薄膜,研究退火时间和后退火温度对薄膜及其太阳电池性能的影响。研究结果表明,所制备的薄膜为CCZTS相,无其他杂相,薄膜表面平整且致密,结晶性较好。随着退火时间增加,薄膜的晶粒尺寸有所增大,薄膜太阳电池的pn结质量得到提升,其性能也随之提高。通过对薄膜太阳电池进行后退火处理,分析了吸收层的元素扩散对电池性能的影响,在Cd元素形成梯度分布时,电池性能有所提高。随着后退火温度的增加,其电池性能和pn结质量呈现先提高后下降的趋势。经后退火300℃处理后,电池转换效率最佳,为3.13%。

A High Efficiency Ultrathin CdTe Solar Cell for Nano-Area Applications

Due to limited availability and the rising price of telluride, the biggest challenge in solar Photo-voltaic (PV) is to successfully design and fabricate optimized CdTe solar cells with reducing the cell thickness that show simultaneously high efficiency and current density. A novel structure of ultrathin CdTe solar cells is proposed in this paper that focuses on conversion efficiency. This structure achieved by rotating 90o in the base line structure that suggests high efficiency due to the high current density. The result showed a considerable improvement over the 15% efficiency of the reference solar cell. The proposed structure is quite noteworthy in reducing the amount of material used and associated losses. Under global air mass (AM) 1.5 conditions, an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 866 mV, a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 74.84 mA/cm2, and a fill factor (FF) of 48.2% were obtained corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 31.2%.

化学水浴沉积CdS薄膜晶相结构及性质

采用CBD法在醋酸镉溶液体系中制备CdS半导体薄膜,研究了溶液组份的浓度对CdS结晶结构的影响.增加乙酸胺的浓度、提高溶液的pH值有利于生成立方晶CdS,反之则易于生成六方晶CdS.无论立方相还是六方相CdS薄膜,电阻率均在104～105Ω·cm范围,结晶均匀细致.用六方晶为主和立方晶为主的CdS制备的CIGS太阳电池最高效率分别达到12.10%和12.17%.

太阳电池中CdS多晶薄膜的微结构及性能

采用化学水浴法制备了CdS多晶薄膜 ,通过XRD ,AFM ,XPS和光学透过率谱等测试手段研究了CdS多晶薄膜生长过程中的结构和性能 .结果表明 ,随着沉积的进行 ,薄膜更加均匀、致密 ,与衬底粘附力增强 ,其光学能隙逐渐增大 ,薄膜由无定形结构向六方 (0 0 2 )方向优化生长 ,同时出现了Cd(OH) 2 相 .在此基础上 ,通过建立薄膜的生长机制与性能的联系 ,沉积出优质CdS多晶薄膜 ,获得了转化效率为 13

CIGS电池缓冲层CdS的制备工艺及物理性能

在含有醋酸镉、醋酸氨、硫脲和氨水的水溶液中，化学沉积CdS半导体薄膜，薄膜的厚度与搅拌强度有很大关系，表明薄膜的生长速度是由OH^-和SC（NH2）2的扩散传质为控制步骤。CAS薄膜的电阻率在10^4-- 10^5Ω·Cm之间。CAS薄膜的品格在乙酸胺浓度较小时，为六方晶和立方晶混合结构；乙酸胺浓度较大时，为立方晶结构。利用六方晶与立方晶混合的CAS制备的CIGS太阳电池，光电转换效率最大可达12．1％，3．5×3．6cm^3小面积组件为6．6％。立方相CAS制备的最佳电池效率达到12．17％。两种晶相结构的CAS薄膜对CIGS太阳电池的性能影响没有明显的差别。

CdS薄膜的制备及其性能

采用化学池沉积 (CBD)法 ,在三种衬底 (玻片、ITO玻片、SnO2 玻片 )上沉积CdS薄膜 ,并利用扫描电镜(SEM)、透射光谱、X射线衍射 (XRD)和微电流高阻计等方法对沉积膜进行了测试分析 ,计算出CdS薄膜的能隙宽度和电导激活能 ,阐述了CBD法中CdS薄膜的生长沉积机制以及不同衬底对沉积效果的影响 .结果表明 :不同衬底的成膜效果差异较大 ,其中以SnO2

化学池沉积法制备CdS多晶薄膜及其性质

采用化学池沉积(CBD)法,在3种不同衬底(玻片、ITO玻片、SnO2玻片)上沉积制备CdS多晶薄膜,并利用扫描电镜(SEM)、透射光谱、X射线衍射(XRD)和微电流高阻计等方法对沉积膜进行了测试分析,算出了CdS多晶薄膜的能隙宽度E0和电导激活能Ea,研究了CBD法中CdS多晶薄膜的生长沉积机制以及不同衬底对沉积效果的影响。结果表明:不同衬底的成膜效果差异较大,其中以SnO2玻片为衬底的沉积效果最佳。

真空蒸发法制备CdS薄膜及其性能研究

用真空蒸发法制备了CdS薄膜,用扫描电镜、X射线衍射仪、紫外-可见光分光光度计、四探针对薄膜的形貌、结构、光电性能进行分析测试.研究结果表明,不同基片温度下所制备的CdS薄膜主要为六方相,CdS薄膜在(002)晶面有高度的择优取向;不同基片温度下的薄膜对可见光的透光率都超过70%;薄膜的电阻率随基片温度的升高而增大;基片温度为50℃时薄膜的Eg为2.41 eV;在200℃退火处理改善了CdS薄膜的质量,结晶度提高,电阻率降低,晶粒尺寸增大;基片温度为50℃时薄膜在200℃退火后的电阻率为255Ω.cm.

化学水浴沉积时间对CdS薄膜性质的影响

采用CBD法在醋酸镉溶液体系中制备CdS半导体薄膜,通过XRD、XRF、SEM和光学透过率谱等测试手段研究了沉积时间对CdS薄膜沉积过程和性质的影响。结果表明,随着沉积时间的增加,薄膜增厚;S/Cd原子比增加,但都为富Cd的CdS薄膜;XRD研究表明,薄膜结构由立方、六方混合相向立方相转变,(111)方向成为择优生长方向;SEM研究表明,随沉积时间增加,薄膜变致密,薄膜表面出现的白色附着颗粒增多,尺寸增大;沉积时间对薄膜的光学性质也有很大的影响,随着沉积时间的增加薄膜透过率减小,而禁带宽度值增大。

CdS/CdTe叠层太阳电池的制备及其性能

CdS/CdTe太阳电池是薄膜太阳电池研究工作的一个重要方向.为了提高开路电压Voc、改善电池的光谱响应,进而提高电池的转换效率,在此提出CdS/CdTe叠层太阳电池结构.文中,叠层电池的顶电池由CdS/CdTe超薄层构成;底电池由CdS/CdTe薄膜层构成.经分析测试,实验制备的CdS/CdTe叠层太阳电池具有明显的叠层结构,开路电压最高达到了852mV,短路电流密度最大为13mA/cm2,填充因子最高为55·2%,这种叠层电池的效率达到了8·16%(0·071cm2).研究表明相对于传统的单层CdS/CdTe太阳电池,CdS/CdTe叠层电池的制备对研究如何提高CdS/CdTe太阳电池的光伏性能有一定的参考价值.

CdCl_2气相退火对CdS薄膜的影响

对CdS进行CdCl2 后处理是制备高效率CdS/CdTe多晶太阳能薄膜电池的关键步骤。研究了CdS薄膜的CdCl2 气相热处理 ,用XRD、UV/Vis表征热处理前后薄膜的结构、晶粒尺寸及禁带宽度的变化。对比研究了有无CdCl2 处理的CdS薄膜的结构差异。首次发现在 410℃ ,无CdCl2 热处理的CdS膜出现金属镉。随退火温度的增加和退火时间的延长 ,薄膜的立方结构被破坏。退火温度高于 410℃ ,CdS的 (111)衍射峰强度急剧减弱 ,470℃退火 1h后几乎完全消失。