“High-resolution local-current measurement of CdTe solar cells”, H. P. Yoon, D. Ruzmetov, P. M. Haney, B. H. Hamadani, A. A. Talin, N. B. Zhitenev, 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, pp. 3217-3219, 2012.
1. Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA.
2. Energy and Environment Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA
3. Maryland Nanocenter, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA
ABSTRACT. We investigate local electronic properties of CdTe solar cells using electron beam to excite electron-hole pairs and evaluate spatially resolved photocurrent characteristics. Standard semiconductor processes were used to fabricate Ohmic metal contacts on the surface of p-type CdTe / n-type CdS device extracted from a commercial solar panel. An ion milling process was used to prepare cross-sections of the devices. Local injection of carriers was controlled by an acceleration voltage of electron beam (1 kV to 30 kV) in a scanning electron microscope, and the
results were correlated with the local morphology, microstructure, and chemical composition of the devices.