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The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and CNBM New Energy Materials Research Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Yunfei Chen, Xuehai Tan, Alan E. Delahoy & Ken K. Chin

  2. China Triumph International Engineering Co., Ltd, Shanghai, 200063, People’s Republic of China

    Shou Peng

  3. Bengbu Design and Research Institute for Glass Industry, Bengbu, People’s Republic of China

    Cao Xin

  4. Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Chuanjun Zhang

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  1. Yunfei Chen
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  2. Xuehai Tan
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  3. Shou Peng
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  4. Cao Xin
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  5. Alan E. Delahoy
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  6. Ken K. Chin
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  7. Chuanjun Zhang
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Correspondence to Yunfei Chen.

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Chen, Y., Tan, X., Peng, S. et al. The Influence of Conduction Band Offset on CdTe Solar Cells. J. Electron. Mater. 47, 1201–1207 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5850-9

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