Effect of novel double treatment on the properties of CdTe solar cells

In this study, the effect of Cl activation treatment on performance indicators of CdS/CdTe solar cells was investigated. We improved the performance of CdTe solar cells by applying a novel double treatment method that combines the CdCl2 dipping treatment and Freon (difluoro chloromethane) treatment methods that were previously studied. Conventional CdCl2 methanol dipping treatment (CdCl2 dipping treatment), Freon gas treatment that includes chlorine (Freon treatment), and CdCl2 dipping treatment + Freon treatment (double treatment) were performed, and the efficiencies, open circuit voltage (VOC), and short circuit current (JSC) for all three processes were observed. Although the efficiencies of the CdCl2 dipping treatment and Freon treatment were similar, there was a trade-off between the VOC and JSC in both processes. The double treatment sample shows an efficiency of 14.3%, which was higher than that of a single-treated sample. To investigate the characteristic change of each part of the solar cell, an equivalent circuit model in which the device was divided into a main junction and a back contact was used. In addition to electrical measurements, secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and time of flight (TOF) analysis were performed. Through TOF measurement, drift mobility values for three treatment samples were calculated to be 1.1 cm(2)/Vs, 1.8 cm(2)/Vs, and 1.9 cm(2)/Vs, respectively. With TOF measurement, it was proved that the double treatment had a significant influence on the efficiency of the sample. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of Cl activation treatment on CdS/CdTe solar cells and found that a novel double treatment method combining CdCl2 dipping treatment and Freon treatment improved cell performance. While efficiencies of CdCl2 dipping treatment and Freon treatment were similar, there was a trade-off between VOC and JSC in both processes, with the double treatment showing higher efficiency. Through TOF measurement, it was demonstrated that the double treatment significantly influenced the sample efficiency.