Enhanced CdTe solar cell performance through surface engineering

Abstract

Surface of indium-tin oxide (ITO) substrate were irradiated with accelerated Ar/sup +/, N/sub 2//sup +/, O/sub 2//sup +/ and H/sub 2//sup +/ ions (1 keV) at different doses. The change in sheet resistance (R/sub sh/), the water-contact angle (WCA) and the composition of ITO were measured. R/sub sh/ slightly increased with the ion dose. WCA dropped to less than 15/spl deg/ and the composition shifted to oxygen-rich. CdS films grown on ITO by chemical bath deposition showed an improvement in terms of the microstructure, the surface morphology, the optical transmittance, and the stoichiometry. X-ray photoluminescence was performed on CdS/ITO glass for the first time. The performance of CdTe/CdS solar cells was improved as a result of ITO surface treatments, this being due to improvements in the physical structure of the CdS interfaces.