Band Alignment for Rectification and Tunneling Effects in Al₂O₃ Atomic-Layer-Deposited on Back Contact for CdTe Solar Cell

Abstract

The present work intends to explain why ultrathin AlO atomic-layer-deposited (ALD) on the back contact with rectification and tunneling effects can significantly improve the performance of CdTe solar cells in our previous work [ Liang , J. ; et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 2015 , 107 , 013907 ]. Herein, we further study the mechanism through establishing the interfacial energy band diagram configuration of the ALD AlO/CuTe by experiment of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles calculations and conclude to find the band alignment with optimized layer thickness (about 1 nm ALD AlO) as the key factor for rectification and tunneling effects.

Tunable p- and n-type Nb:TiO2 and performance optimizing of self-powered Nb:TiO2/CdS photodetectors

“…For the interface energy band measurement by the XPS, first a 100 nm CdS film was sputtered on the TiO 2 or NTO surface, after annealed at 400 • C for 20 min, the CdS film was etched away by Ar + on the XPS instrument so that the trace of Ti 2p and Cd 3d can be simultaneously got, which is consistent with the literatures [35,36]. To calculate the energy band structure of their interface in the figures 3(g)-(i), the valence band offset (∆E V ) were calculated first by formula 1, 2 below [39,40].…”

Back contacts materials used in thin film CdTe solar cells—A review

“…There is also the question of whether copper is used in the process, so the interface in some studies can be to other materials (eg, CdTe/Cu x Te/Al 2 O 3 175 ), rather than directly depositing Al 2 O 3 onto CdTe. Atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al 2 O 3 on TEC™ 10 substrates has also been used to overcome shorts due to pinholes in CdTe solar cells (TEC™ 10/Al 2 O 3 /CdS/CdTe/ZnTe:Cu/Ni).…”

NiSx@MoS2 heterostructure prepared by atomic layer deposition as high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts in alkaline media

“…In addition, the composition and microstructure of the heterointerface can be controlled at the atomic level, which is of great importance to obtain a fundamental understanding about the contribution of heterointerfaces to electrocatalytic activities. There have been great progresses recently in developing ALD processes for various transition metal oxides [32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42] and sulfides [30,31,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50]. Xiong et al [46] designed and constructed a hybrid compound Fe x Co 1Àx S y electrocatalyst with controllable composition on a complex 3D structure (carbon nanotubes on carbon cloths) for HER by ALD.…”