CdTe thin film solar cells produced using a chamberless inline process via metalorganic chemical vapour deposition

Cd1 − xZnxS and CdTe:As thin films were deposited using a recently developed chamberless inline process via metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) at atmospheric pressure and assessed for fabrication of CdTe photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. Initially, CdS and Cd1 − xZnxS coatings were applied onto 15 × 15 cm2 float glass substrates, characterised for their optical properties, and then used as the window layer in CdTe solar cells which were completed in a conventional MOCVD (batch) reactor. Such devices provided best conversion efficiency of 13.6% for Cd0.36Zn0.64S and 10% for CdS which compare favourably to the existing baseline MOCVD (batch reactor) devices. Next, sequential deposition of Cd0.36Zn0.64S and CdTe:As films was realised by the chamberless inline process. The chemical composition of a 1 μm CdTe:As/150 nm Cd0.36Zn0.64S bi-layer was observed via secondary ions mass spectroscopy, which showed that the key elements are uniformly distributed and the As doping level is suitable for CdTe device applications. CdTe solar cells formed using this structure provided a best efficiency of 11.8% which is promising for a reduced absorber thickness of 1.25 μm. The chamberless inline process is non-vacuum, flexible to implement and inherits from the legacy of MOCVD towards doping/alloying and low temperature operation. Thus, MOCVD enabled by the chamberless inline process is shown to be an attractive route for thin film PV applications.