Role of oxygen during CdTe growth for CdTe photovoltaic devices

Polycrystalline CdTe thin films for CdTe solar cell devices are typically grown using physical vapor techniques such as close-spaced sublimation or vapor transport deposition with, in some cases, a small amount of oxygen in the process gas. In this report, we discuss the results of growing CdTe films in an environment of pure oxygen using close-space sublimation. The results show that oxygen has a positive impact on CdTe film quality as it increases charge carrier mobility and lifetime in the absorber layer of CdTe-based devices. This has resulted in a 10-20mV improvement in open-circuit voltages when growing the CdTe in pure oxygen. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.