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Properties of Nitrogen-Doped Zinc Telluride Films for Back Contact to Cadmium Telluride Photovoltaics

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Abstract

Zinc telluride (ZnTe) films have been deposited onto uncoated glass superstrates by reactive radiofrequency (RF) sputtering with different amounts of nitrogen introduced into the process gas, and the structural and electronic transport properties of the resulting nitrogen-doped ZnTe (ZnTe:N) films characterized. Based on transmission and x-ray diffraction measurements, it was observed that the crystalline quality of the ZnTe:N films decreased with increasing nitrogen in the deposition process. The bulk carrier concentration of the ZnTe:N films determined from Hall-effect measurements showed a slight decrease at 4% nitrogen flow rate. The effect of ZnTe:N films as back contact to cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells was also investigated. ZnTe:N films were deposited before or after CdCl2 passivation on CdTe/CdS samples. Small-area devices were characterized for their electronic properties. Glancing-angle x-ray diffraction measurements and energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis confirmed substantial loss of zinc from the samples where CdCl2 passivation was carried out after ZnTe:N film deposition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, 1320 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Tushar M. Shimpi, Drew E. Swanson & Walajabad S. Sampath

  2. Department of Physics, Colorado State University, 1875 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80532, USA

    Jennifer Drayton

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  1. Tushar M. Shimpi
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  2. Jennifer Drayton
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  3. Drew E. Swanson
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  4. Walajabad S. Sampath
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Correspondence to Tushar M. Shimpi.

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Shimpi, T.M., Drayton, J., Swanson, D.E. et al. Properties of Nitrogen-Doped Zinc Telluride Films for Back Contact to Cadmium Telluride Photovoltaics. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 5112–5120 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5502-0

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