The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells

Yunfei Chen; Xuehai Tan; Shou Peng; Cao Xin; Alan E. Delahoy; Ken K. Chin; Chuanjun Zhang

doi:10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9

The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells

Yunfei Chen, Xuehai Tan, Shou Peng, Cao Xin, Alan E. Delahoy, Ken K. Chin, Chuanjun Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Numerical modeling of conduction band offset (ΔE_C) between an n-type CdSO window layer and a p-type CdTe absorption layer on the effect of the cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells was studied through simulation. The simulation results show that a slightly positive ΔE_C yields high efficiency because the surface recombination rate at the CdSO/CdTe interface can be substantially reduced, leading to higher open-circuit voltage (V_OC) and fill factor. Further increase in ΔE_C (≥ 0.4 eV) will impose an energy barrier against the photo-generated electrons under forward bias. We demonstrated the mechanistic picture of this effect using thermionic emission. However, if intra-band tunneling is considered in the simulation, a large ΔE_C shows negligible influence on the performance of CdTe solar cells. Our simulation results suggest that an ΔE_C of 0.3 eV is an optimal conduction band offset for high-efficiency CdTe solar cells.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1201-1207
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Electronic Materials
Volume	47
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9
State	Published - Feb 1 2018

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Materials Chemistry

Keywords

CdTe solar cell
conduction band offset
intra-band tunneling
surface recombination rate
thermionic emission

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10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9

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title = "The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells",

abstract = "Numerical modeling of conduction band offset (ΔEC) between an n-type CdSO window layer and a p-type CdTe absorption layer on the effect of the cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells was studied through simulation. The simulation results show that a slightly positive ΔEC yields high efficiency because the surface recombination rate at the CdSO/CdTe interface can be substantially reduced, leading to higher open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor. Further increase in ΔEC (≥ 0.4 eV) will impose an energy barrier against the photo-generated electrons under forward bias. We demonstrated the mechanistic picture of this effect using thermionic emission. However, if intra-band tunneling is considered in the simulation, a large ΔEC shows negligible influence on the performance of CdTe solar cells. Our simulation results suggest that an ΔEC of 0.3 eV is an optimal conduction band offset for high-efficiency CdTe solar cells.",

keywords = "CdTe solar cell, conduction band offset, intra-band tunneling, surface recombination rate, thermionic emission",

author = "Yunfei Chen and Xuehai Tan and Shou Peng and Cao Xin and Delahoy, {Alan E.} and Chin, {Ken K.} and Chuanjun Zhang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.",

year = "2018",

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doi = "10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells

AU - Chen, Yunfei

AU - Tan, Xuehai

AU - Peng, Shou

AU - Xin, Cao

AU - Delahoy, Alan E.

AU - Chin, Ken K.

AU - Zhang, Chuanjun

PY - 2018/2/1

Y1 - 2018/2/1

N2 - Numerical modeling of conduction band offset (ΔEC) between an n-type CdSO window layer and a p-type CdTe absorption layer on the effect of the cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells was studied through simulation. The simulation results show that a slightly positive ΔEC yields high efficiency because the surface recombination rate at the CdSO/CdTe interface can be substantially reduced, leading to higher open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor. Further increase in ΔEC (≥ 0.4 eV) will impose an energy barrier against the photo-generated electrons under forward bias. We demonstrated the mechanistic picture of this effect using thermionic emission. However, if intra-band tunneling is considered in the simulation, a large ΔEC shows negligible influence on the performance of CdTe solar cells. Our simulation results suggest that an ΔEC of 0.3 eV is an optimal conduction band offset for high-efficiency CdTe solar cells.

AB - Numerical modeling of conduction band offset (ΔEC) between an n-type CdSO window layer and a p-type CdTe absorption layer on the effect of the cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells was studied through simulation. The simulation results show that a slightly positive ΔEC yields high efficiency because the surface recombination rate at the CdSO/CdTe interface can be substantially reduced, leading to higher open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor. Further increase in ΔEC (≥ 0.4 eV) will impose an energy barrier against the photo-generated electrons under forward bias. We demonstrated the mechanistic picture of this effect using thermionic emission. However, if intra-band tunneling is considered in the simulation, a large ΔEC shows negligible influence on the performance of CdTe solar cells. Our simulation results suggest that an ΔEC of 0.3 eV is an optimal conduction band offset for high-efficiency CdTe solar cells.

KW - CdTe solar cell

KW - conduction band offset

KW - intra-band tunneling

KW - surface recombination rate

KW - thermionic emission

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The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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