Xiang Lv , Zechen Hu , Lifei Yang , Jie Huang , Xuegong Yu , Chuanhong Jin , Deren Yang
{"title":"Transmission electron microscopy study on the laser-cutting induced microdefects in silicon heterojunction solar cells","authors":"Xiang Lv , Zechen Hu , Lifei Yang , Jie Huang , Xuegong Yu , Chuanhong Jin , Deren Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113792","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113792","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells are at the forefront of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) technology, achieving record efficiencies and promising bifacial performance. These cells are crucial for future PV markets, but challenges like cell-to-module (CTM) losses can reduce overall module efficiency. Half-cell module technology, using thermal laser separation (TLS), helps minimize these losses, but performance degradation persists, even with edge passivation. This study investigates how TLS affects the microstructure of SHJ cells, focusing on defects formed during laser processing. We used high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to examine these changes, providing detailed insights into the cell's structure. The results reveal that the hydrogenated amorphous silicon (<em>α</em>-Si:H) layer near laser-cut edges crystallizes, with the affected zones spanning approximately 12 μm at the n<sup>+</sup>-n junction and 6 μm at the p<sup>+</sup>-n junction, where the crystallization patterns are influenced by laser energy. The scribing laser also melts and diffuses the indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, and induces defects in the crystalline silicon (<em>c</em>-Si) regions. These changes are likely the main reasons for efficiency losses, reducing cell performance. These insights are vital for developing strategies to mitigate laser-induced defects, enhancing SHJ cell efficiency and reliability for large-scale production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113792"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144288695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Ignacia Devoto Acevedo, Matthias Helbig, Karl Wienands, Andreas Halm, Daniel Tune
{"title":"Effect of carbon nanotubes in conductive adhesives for photovoltaics","authors":"M. Ignacia Devoto Acevedo, Matthias Helbig, Karl Wienands, Andreas Halm, Daniel Tune","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113790","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113790","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the impact of adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to silver-loaded epoxy-based adhesives, focusing on mechanical adhesion, electrical performance, and reliability. CNTs improve electrical conductivity in polymers by forming conductive networks with a low percolation threshold, requiring significantly lower filler loading compared to micron-sized fillers. In this study, a commercial electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) is modified by adding 0.05 to 0.63 wt% of CNTs and several dedicated test structures are manufactured with it. The samples are stressed up to 2000 h under damp-heat and up to 400 thermal cycles. The results indicate that CNTs enhance peel strength, but only above a threshold concentration, with a 0.19 wt% addition increasing adhesion by 82 %, while higher concentrations yield diminishing improvements. The electrical performance is influenced differently: the sheet resistivity of ECA (<em>R</em><sub><em>s</em></sub>) improves with increasing CNT content, whereas the contact resistivity (<em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub>) initially increases before decreasing with higher CNT concentration. Under thermal cycling, higher CNT content mitigates <em>R</em><sub><em>s</em></sub> degradation, with the 0.63 wt% CNT formulation exhibiting superior long-term stability, though <em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub> degrades in all cases. During damp-heat exposure, <em>R</em><sub><em>s</em></sub> improves over time, while <em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub> degrades with increasing stress duration. Interestingly, <em>R</em><sub><em>s</em></sub> and <em>ρ</em><sub><em>c</em></sub> exhibit opposing trends, suggesting minimal overall impact on module performance (for the particular bill of material used in this study). The study also highlights the challenge of isolating the effects of CNTs from epoxy dilution, emphasizing the need for better control of the ECA formulations. These findings demonstrate the potential of CNT-enhanced ECAs for improved adhesion and electrical stability in photovoltaic applications, provided that trade-offs in contact resistivity are carefully managed to ensure long-term reliability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113790"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144272281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yoganash Putthisigamany , Mohammad Istiaque Hossain , Atef Zekri , Brahim Aïssa , Kazi Sajedur Rahman , Mohd Megat Izhar Sapeli , Mohd Sukor Su'ait , Norasikin Ahmad Ludin , Mohd Adib Ibrahim , Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan
{"title":"Manifold benefits of vacuum annealed molybdenum back contact for enhanced CZTSSe thin film properties and device","authors":"Yoganash Putthisigamany , Mohammad Istiaque Hossain , Atef Zekri , Brahim Aïssa , Kazi Sajedur Rahman , Mohd Megat Izhar Sapeli , Mohd Sukor Su'ait , Norasikin Ahmad Ludin , Mohd Adib Ibrahim , Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113782","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113782","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cu<sub>2</sub>ZnSn(S<sub>x</sub>Se<sub>1−x</sub>)<sub>4</sub> (CZTSSe) thin-film solar cell (TFCS) are emerging as favourable materials for sustainable energy production, offering advantages such as low cost, abundance, and non-toxicity. Despite the significant progress in CZTSSe solar cells, optimizing their performance remains challenging due to factors like back contact material and interfacial layer formation. Molybdenum (Mo) is commonly used as a back contact material due to its robustness and compatibility with the absorber layer. However, the work function of Mo is highly sensitive to its deposition conditions, which can influence the device's open-circuit voltage (V<sub>oc</sub>) and resistance. Our study investigates the impact of Mo work function optimization through post-deposition treatments, such as vacuum annealing, to enhance the electrical and morphological properties of Mo films. Additionally, the growth of Mo(S,Se)<sub>2</sub> layers at the Mo/CZTSSe interface and its influence on the device's performance is studied. We thereby demonstrate that post-deposition annealing of Mo can significantly improve the work function, reduce interfacial layer thickness, and enhance the overall photovoltaic performance of CZTSSe solar cells. Our findings reveal that the optimized Mo back contact results in an improved power conversion efficiency, with Mo_VA-treated films achieving 7.7 % efficiency compared to 0.71 % efficiency for as-sputtered Mo films, highlighting the critical role of back contact optimization in CZTSSe-based photovoltaics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113782"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144272278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E. Strods , M. Zubkins , V. Vibornijs , D. Moldarev , A. Sarakovskis , K. Kundzins , E. Letko , D. Primetzhofer , J. Purans
{"title":"Role of hydrogen dynamics and deposition conditions in photochromic YHO/MoO3 bilayer films","authors":"E. Strods , M. Zubkins , V. Vibornijs , D. Moldarev , A. Sarakovskis , K. Kundzins , E. Letko , D. Primetzhofer , J. Purans","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113789","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113789","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Oxygen-containing yttrium hydride (YHO) and molybdenum trioxide (MoO<sub>3</sub>) bilayer films (YHO/MoO<sub>3</sub>) are produced using reactive magnetron sputtering, and their photochromic properties are investigated in relation to the thickness and density of the MoO<sub>3</sub> layer. Compared to single YHO films, the YHO/MoO<sub>3</sub> films exhibit faster coloration and larger contrast, with both parameters adjustable by varying the thickness or deposition pressure of the MoO<sub>3</sub> layer. Transparent YHO/MoO<sub>3</sub> films (∼75 % at 550 nm) demonstrate a photochromic contrast of up to 60 %, significantly higher than the 25–30 % contrast observed for single YHO films after 20 h of UVA-violet light exposure. This enhancement arises from hydrogen intercalation from the (200)-textured polycrystalline YHO film into the X-ray amorphous MoO<sub>3</sub>, leading to the formation of molybdenum bronze (H<sub><em>x</em></sub>MoO<sub>3</sub>), as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron and optical spectroscopies. However, the darkened YHO/MoO<sub>3</sub> films do not fully recover to their initial transparency after illumination due to the irreversible nature of the coloured MoO<sub>3</sub> layer. Most of the hydrogen intercalated into MoO<sub>3</sub> originates from the YHO layer during the initial darkening process. Furthermore, the bilayer films are chemically unstable, exhibiting gradual darkening over time even without intentional UV illumination, as confirmed by nuclear reaction analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113789"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144272279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna J. Carr , Lenneke H. Slooff , Ashish Binani , Christian Braun , Alexander Kleinhans , Ramakrishnan Kalyanasundaram , Ruud Derks , Jan M. Kroon
{"title":"Validation of shading model in SolarMoves","authors":"Anna J. Carr , Lenneke H. Slooff , Ashish Binani , Christian Braun , Alexander Kleinhans , Ramakrishnan Kalyanasundaram , Ruud Derks , Jan M. Kroon","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113783","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113783","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To understand the impact that vehicle integrated PV can have on the electricity grid requirements now and in the future the SolarMoves project is using a combination of detailed modelling and measurements to arrive at predictions for the European EV fleet and grid infrastructure requirements now and in 2030. The first phase of the project consisted of extensive modelling [1]. In this paper we take vehicle irradiance measurement results from phase two of the project to examine the validity of the seasonal shading model used in part one of the project. Measurement results indicate that shading losses can be somewhere between 5 and 20 %. Shading can have a significant impact on PV yield, especially on VIPV where the vehicle is moving through different terrains, including open spaces with little shading to very densely built up areas with a lot of shading. Taking account of this in an accurate way is a very important part of determining the possible PV yield.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113783"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jagoba Barata , Jon Grandes , Jon Arrue , Eneko Arrospide , Nekane Guarrotxena , Olga García , Joseba Zubia , M. Asunción Illarramendi
{"title":"Experimental and theoretical study of luminescent solar concentrators based on vertically stacked arrays of optical fibers","authors":"Jagoba Barata , Jon Grandes , Jon Arrue , Eneko Arrospide , Nekane Guarrotxena , Olga García , Joseba Zubia , M. Asunción Illarramendi","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113719","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113719","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, the performance of luminescent solar concentrators using dye-doped POFs stacked in layers is theoretically and experimentally studied. Two setups having different illuminated lengths and different arrangements of the dyes in the layers have been manufactured using the dyes Lumogen Yellow and Lumogen Red at a concentration of 500 ppm. The analyses include the effect of the number of layers, of the order of the dyes in each layer and of the illumination length on performance parameters such as the external photon efficiency from each layer, the achievable output power and the spectral distribution of the output emission. It is found that the output power is close to the highest one when at least two of the layers are doped with Lumogen Red. The measured total power emitted from one of the ends of a promising setup of 46 POFs arranged in 4 layers when a length of only 31 cm is illuminated under sunlight has been 6.1 mW. The qualitative behaviors of the experimentally-measured performance parameters are well described by the theoretical Monte-Carlo calculations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113719"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144272381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fuhaid Alshammari , Nasser Alanazi , Mamdouh Alshammari , Ammar H. Elsheikh , Fadl A. Essa
{"title":"Enhancing the performance of stepped solar stills: A comprehensive study on design optimization, material integration, and techno-economic feasibility","authors":"Fuhaid Alshammari , Nasser Alanazi , Mamdouh Alshammari , Ammar H. Elsheikh , Fadl A. Essa","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113784","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113784","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Access to clean water remains a critical global challenge, particularly in regions facing water scarcity and limited energy resources. Solar distillers provide a sustainable desalination solution, yet conventional designs suffer from low yield and efficiency, hindering widespread adoption. This research addresses these limitations by enhancing stepped solar still (STSS) performance through systematic design modifications and parametric optimization. Three distinct absorber geometries were investigated—regular flat (RSTSS), finned (FnSTSS), and corrugated (CrSTSS)—alongside various wicking materials (jute, charcoal, steel wool fibers, and water coral fleece) and thermal storage options including gravel, yellow sand, and phase change materials (PCM) such as paraffin wax. Experimental and analytical evaluations revealed that FnSTSS and CrSTSS configurations achieved respective productivity gains of 39 % (3750 mL/m<sup>2</sup>) and 54 % (4155 mL/m<sup>2</sup>) over the baseline RSTSS system (2695 mL/m<sup>2</sup>). The CrSTSS configuration, when augmented with water coral fleece wicking material, yielded 5450 mL/m<sup>2</sup>—a 91 % improvement over the baseline. Further integration of paraffin wax as PCM elevated daily output to 6940 mL/m<sup>2</sup> with 59 % thermal efficiency, demonstrating superior latent energy recovery capabilities. Techno-economic analysis confirmed the optimized CrSTSS design reduces freshwater production costs by 87 %, from $0.20 to $0.026 per liter. These findings contribute significantly to advancing solar still technology for sustainable desalination applications, offering an economically viable solution for meeting clean water demands in resource-constrained environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113784"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Huiqiang Yang, Anh-Thu Phan, Aïmen E. Gheribi, Patrice Chartrand
{"title":"Extending the kinetic theory-based thermal conductivity model to reciprocal molten salt mixtures with short-range ordering via the Modified Quasi-chemical Model in the Quadruplet Approximation","authors":"Huiqiang Yang, Anh-Thu Phan, Aïmen E. Gheribi, Patrice Chartrand","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113724","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113724","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Molten salts are among the most promising materials for advanced energy systems in the renewable energy and nuclear fields, with thermal conductivity being a critical property that directly impacts the efficiency of heat transfer processes. However, reliable experimental data on the thermal conductivity for molten salt mixtures is scarce, requiring the use of atomistic simulations and robust theoretical frameworks to fill this gap. This study extends a previously developed kinetic theory-based model for common-anion molten salt mixtures to reciprocal molten salt mixtures (for example, LiF–KCl) as a function of temperature and composition. To account for the effects of first nearest neighbor short-range ordering between cations and anions, pair fractions in the Modified Quasi-chemical Model in the Quadruplet Approximation were employed. The current model fills an important gap in the modeling of thermal conductivity for reciprocal molten salt mixtures, since no existing model has accurately characterized their thermal conductivity. Predicted results were compared with various equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations performed in this work for solutions involving Li<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>, Na<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>, K<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>/F<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>, Cl<span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo></mrow></msup></math></span>, as well as with existing experimental measurements. The model also predicted the thermal conductivity of reciprocal molten salt mixtures proposed in the literature as potential phase change materials. The current model demonstrated excellent predictive capability and accuracy of thermal conductivity for both monoatomic and polyatomic anion reciprocal molten salt mixtures, with an estimated error margin up to 20%. This advancement will significantly contribute to improving the statement of knowledge of reciprocal molten salt thermal conductivity and provide valuable tools for evaluating the thermal conductivity of molten salt mixtures in engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113724"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144254355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shengqi Wang , Haidong Liu , Yiwei Ao , Kuninori Okamoto , Jiangtao Di
{"title":"Strengthening TOPCon solar cell reliability via Al/Ga/Fe-added glass frits in LECO-compatible silver pastes against acid corrosion","authors":"Shengqi Wang , Haidong Liu , Yiwei Ao , Kuninori Okamoto , Jiangtao Di","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113776","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113776","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Laser-enhanced contact optimization (LECO) emerges as a potent technique in enhancing the efficiency of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells. Nevertheless, an urgent improvement in LECO-compatible silver pastes is required to ensure the reliability and stability of TOPCon solar cells. Herein, we studied optimizing glass formation by introducing elements such as aluminum, gallium, and iron into the inorganic glass frits of conductive silver pastes. Additionally, we examined the degradation of TOPCon solar cells under standard acetic acid conditions. The silver paste crafted with glass frits containing added Al, Ga, or Fe elements exhibits significantly enhanced resistance to acetic acid corrosion compared to silver paste lacking these special elements. The efficiency loss of LECO-used silver paste with Al/Ga/Fe additives during acetic acid exposure can be less than 10 %, and even as low as 5 %. In contrast, without the introduction of these special elements, the degradation effect of acetic acid can markedly increase to over 50 %. The present study offers highly reliable LECO-compatible silver pastes for TOPCon solar cells.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113776"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R.C. Greenhalgh, A. Abbas, V. Kornienko, J.M. Walls
{"title":"Gas bubbles and blisters in thin film cadmium selenide deposited by magnetron sputtering","authors":"R.C. Greenhalgh, A. Abbas, V. Kornienko, J.M. Walls","doi":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113742","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113742","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) is a source of Selenium in CdSeTe/CdTe photovoltaic device fabrication. CdSe thin films have been deposited using pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. The thin films are high quality, compact with the columnar structure usually associated with sputtered thin films. The thin films exhibit mixed hexagonal and cubic phases due to the presence of stacking faults. Argon is observed to be present in the as-deposited films, implanted during film growth from the sputter-working gas. The thin films have been exposed to high temperature annealing treatments and to cadmium chloride (CdCl<sub>2</sub>) activation to assess microstructural changes that occur. After annealing, voids appear in the film caused by the growth of argon gas bubbles. This leads to blistering on the CdSe surface. The CdCl<sub>2</sub> treatment causes even more serious void formation and surface blistering. Similar problems have been observed with sputtered CdTe thin films. Argon gas atoms are trapped in the growing films by stacking faults. When the stacking faults are removed by the high temperature treatments, the argon diffuses into gas bubbles. These bubbles continue to expand causing serious voiding and catastrophic blistering. Although, the phenomenon can be mitigated by increasing the substrate temperature and by reducing the deposition rate, argon gas bubbles are still formed. Voiding is a serious problem in photovoltaic device fabrication, but the problem can be resolved by using an evaporative deposition technique to avoid argon implantation. The use of sputter-deposition of CdTe and CdSe should be avoided in the fabrication of high efficiency photovoltaic devices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":429,"journal":{"name":"Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells","volume":"292 ","pages":"Article 113742"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144240600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}