NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

High Efficiency Single Crystal 

CdTe Solar Cells

November 19, 2009 — January 31, 2011

Michael Carmody and Angelo Gilmore

EPIR Technologies 

Bolingbrook, Illinois

Subcontract Report

NREL/SR-5200-51380

May 2011
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard 

Golden, Colorado 80401 

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 

 

High Efficiency Single Crystal 

CdTe Solar Cells 

November 19, 2009 — January 31, 2011 

Michael Carmody and Angelo Gilmore 

EPIR Technologies 

Bolingbrook, Illinois 

NREL Technical Monitor: Brian Keyes 

Prepared under Subcontract No. NEU-0-99010-12 

Subcontract Report

NREL/SR-5200-51380 

May 2011 
This publication was reproduced from the best available copy

submitted by the subcontractor and received no editorial review at NREL.

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1 

Table of Contents

1. Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 5

2. Focus of the First Quarter (Q1).............................................................................................................. 6

2.1. Growth of Thin-Film Single-Crystal CdTe (111) on Si ......................................................6

2.2. Establish CdTe n-type Doping with a Carrier Concentration > 3 x 1016 cm-3 ....................7

2.2.1. Sample Preparation ....................................................................................................7

2.2.2. Hall Data ....................................................................................................................8

2.2.3. Capacitance-Voltage Measurements of Indium Diffused CdTe ..............................10

2.3. Establish CdTe p-type Doping with Carrier Concentration > 3 x 1015 cm-3 .....................10

2.4. Develop a Low Resistance Contact to n-type CdTe .........................................................11

3. Focus of the Second Quarter (Q2) ...................................................................................................... 12

3.1. Growth of Thin-Film CdZnTe on Si Substrates with Reasonable Crystallinity Using 

MBE ...................................................................................................................................12

3.2. p-type Doping of CdTe .....................................................................................................14

3.3. n-type Doping of CdTe .....................................................................................................16

3.4. n-type Doping of CdZnTe .................................................................................................17

3.5. Initial Solar Cell Fabrications ...........................................................................................17

3.5.1. Junction Depth .........................................................................................................17

3.5.2. Short-Circuit Current Density ..................................................................................18

3.5.3. Fill Factor .................................................................................................................19

3.5.4. Open-Circuit Voltage ...............................................................................................19

3.5.5. Cell Efficiency .........................................................................................................20

4. Focus of the Third Quarter (Q3) .......................................................................................................... 21

4.1. Growth of Thin-Film CdZnTe on Si Substrates with High Crystal Quality Using MBE .21

4.2. Layer Stress and Doping CdZnTe (CZT) n-type ..............................................................25

4.3. Achieving Low Resistance Ohmic Contacts on the p-type Absorber Layer and Achieving 

p-type Doping Concentrations > 3 x 1016 cm-3 ..................................................................26

4.4. Measurement and Reduction of the Components of the Cell Series Resistance (Rs) .......28

5. Focus of the Fourth Quarter (Q4)........................................................................................................ 33

5.1. Determination of the Bulk Minority Carrier Lifetime τ of Unintentionally p-doped 

CdZnTe (the absorber layer material) ................................................................................33

5.2. n-type Iodine Doping of CdZnTe .....................................................................................37

6. Program Summary................................................................................................................................ 42

6.1. Goals and Deliverables .....................................................................................................42

6.2. Successes of the Program ..................................................................................................42

6.3. Challenges to Be Met ........................................................................................................43

6.4. Outlook for the Future ......................................................................................................43 
2 

List of Figures 

Figure 1. Preincubator program cell architecture (left) and EPIR’s future tandem cell architecture 

that is currently under development (right). ..............................................................................5

Figure 2. DCRC FWHM of recent single crystal CdTe on Si growths at EPIR. The measurement 

is from the center of the wafer. The blue icon represents the sample delivered to NREL as 

part of the Preincubator program. ..............................................................................................7

Figure 3. DCRC FWHM map and representative single rocking curve diffraction peak from 

CdTe/Si layer D08105. ..............................................................................................................7

Figure 4. Indium concentration SIMS profile of CdTe on Si sample with indium diffused from 

the top surface (left) to the back Si interface (right) with an indium concentration of ~ 3x1018

cm-3. ...........................................................................................................................................8

Figure 5. Indium tin oxide was deposited on indium-diffused CdTe by e-beam evaporation. The 

TCO layers were patterned with photoresist and selectively etched away leaving behind 

ohmic contact bonding pads that were used for making room temperature Hall 

measurements. ............................................................................................................................8

Figure 6. Typical current-voltage (I-V) response between two indium contacts on indiumdiffused CdTe illustrating the ohmic nature of the indium contacts. .........................................9

Figure 7. C-V measurement of indium-diffused CdTe. The extracted n-type carrier concentration 

for this layer is ~ 5x1018 cm-3. .................................................................................................10

Figure 8. C-V measurement of Cu (left) and Au (right) diffused at 4000

C for 10 min in CdTe. ..11

Figure 9. Cartoon cross-section of EPIR’s growth stack (left) and cross-sectional TEM images 

and a stick model of the II-VI/Si interface (right). ..................................................................13

Figure 10. Wafer image, 100x Normarski image of the surface and rocking curve of a recent 

CdZnTe/ZnTe/Si (111) layer grown at EPIR. ..........................................................................13

Figure 11. XRD rocking curve FHWM of CdTe and CdZnTe grown on (211) and (111) 

orientated Si substrates. Growth on (211) provides the for the lowest rocking curve values. 14

Figure 12. Scatter plot of the measured carrier concentration for sequential samples under 

various arsenic activation anneals in single crystal CdTe/Si. ..................................................15

Figure 13. Scatter plot of carrier concentration from recent Cu and Au activation anneals for 

single crystal CdTe/Si. .............................................................................................................15

Figure 14. Schematic of indium doped single-crystal CdTe sample delivered to NREL (program 

deliverable) during the second quarter (Q2). ...........................................................................16

Figure 15. Room temperature Hall carrier concentration (left) and mobility (right) scatter plots of 

n-type single crystal CdTe/Si samples grown at EPIR illustrating n-type carrier 

concentrations > 1017 cm-3 and n-type mobilities greater than 1,000 cm2

/Vs. ........................16

Figure 16. Indium SIMS profile of diffused junctions on EPIR developmental cells indicating a 

junction depth of several microns (depending on the anneal conditions). The green line 

represents the ideal junction depth of ~ 200 nm in thickness. .................................................18

Figure 17. EPIR’s single crystal CdZnTe/Si solar cell fill factor for different front contact 

configurations. The use of ITO as the front side contact has dramatically improved the 

junction fill factor of our preliminary experimental devices. ..................................................19

Figure 18. I-V curves under one-sun illumination from our best CdZnTe cells for two Zn 

concentrations. .........................................................................................................................21

Figure 19. Three different CdZnTe structures grown on Si(111) and Si(211). .............................22
3 

Figure 20 p-CdZnTe sample D10071 (left) and n-CdZnTe/p-CdZnTe sample D10088 (right) 

grown on Si(211). ....................................................................................................................24

Figure 21. p-CdZnTe sample D10097 (left) and n-CdZnTe/p-CdZnTe sample D10093 (right) 

grown on Si(111). ....................................................................................................................24

Figure 22. Surface morphology of CdZnTe after In diffusion: (left) cracks on sample D10056; 

(right) no cracks on sample D10062. .......................................................................................25

Figure 23. Cartoon schematic of the Hall sample layer structure. .................................................26

Figure 24. Scatter plot of five different room temperature Hall measurements performed for two 

different p-type CdZnTe layers. A sample from layer 49 was sent to NREL as one of the 

Preincubator deliverables. ........................................................................................................27

Figure 25. SIMS Zn, Cd and Te profile of the CdZnTe/CdTe/Si layer structure used for Hall 

illustrating the limited interdiffusion of Zn into the CdTe buffer layer. ..................................28

Figure 26. Dark I-V curve of a high series resistance CdZnTe/Si cell with an anomalously high 

ideality factor. ..........................................................................................................................29

Figure 27. Dynamic resistance-area (RdA) vs. voltage response of the cell from Figure 28, 

illustrating the high series resistance as observed in the far forward bias region of the I-V 

curve. ........................................................................................................................................29

Figure 28. Cross-section schematic of EPIR’s single junction device structure. ..........................30

Figure 29. Cartoon schematic of the cell structure with contacts located on different parts of the 

cell stack that were used to isolate the location of the cell series resistance. ..........................30

Figure 30. Cross-sectional schematic of the cell test structure used to reduce the series resistance 

on the n-side of the junction. Thick indium contacts were diffused into the n-side of the 

CdZnTe in an attempt to form a low resistance n-side contact to the CdZnTe cell. The thick 

indium is not optically transparent and therefore only dark I-V curves could be measured. ..31

Figure 31. Dark current-voltage response of a single crystal CdZnTe/Si cell with a solid indium 

contact on the top surface. .......................................................................................................32

Figure 32. Model fit (red line) to the dark I-V response of a single crystal CdZnTe/Si cell with a 

solid indium contact on the top surface shown in Figure 31. The junction ideality factor (n) is 

~ 1.4 for this cell and the junction series resistance is dramatically lower than that of the cell 

in Figure 27. .............................................................................................................................32

Figure 33. RdA product vs. cell voltage for the same cell as from Figure 31 and Figure 32. Note 

that the dynamic resistance at 1 Volt is ~ 4 Ohm cm2. This is an orders of magnitude lower 

resistance than that of the cell in Figure 27. ............................................................................33

Figure 34. Photoconductive-decay minority carrier lifetimes of unintentionally p-doped (~1015

cm -3) CdTe and CdZnTe epitaxial films with the best CdS passivation. ................................34

Figure 35. Lifetime response of a single crystal CdTe/Si sample measured using alpha particle 

excitation. .................................................................................................................................36

Figure 36. Schematic of the solar cell structure using iodine for doping the emitter layer. ..........37

Figure 37. SIMS profile of the iodine concentration of layer W10057 in situ doped with iodine.38

Figure 38. I-V curve from a solar cell fabricated from layer W10057, the iodine profile of which 

is shown in Figure 37. ..............................................................................................................38

Figure 39. SIMS profile of the iodine concentration of sample W10061 in situ doped with 

iodine........................................................................................................................................39

Figure 40. The short-circuit current for cells fabricated from wafers with different dopings and 

junction depths and the wafer-averages of the short-circuit currents. .....................................39

Figure 41. Room temperature, light I-V curve of a cell from sample W10074CC. ......................41
4 

List of Tables 

Table 1. Summary of n-type CdTe Hall Data (~298K). ..................................................................9

Table 2. Summary of the ITO Sputtered at EPIR. .........................................................................11

Table 3. Summary of e-beam Deposited ITO. ...............................................................................12

Table 4. Preliminary n-type doping of single crystal CdZnTe/Si. .................................................17

Table 5. Growth characteristics of CdZnTe grown on (211) oriented silicon substrates. .............22

Table 6. Growth characteristics of CdZnTe grown on (111) oriented silicon substrates. .............23

Table 7. FWHM, Zn content for 3 μm thick CdZnTe grown on Si(211). .....................................23

Table 8. Hall Data for p-type CdZnTe Layers Grown at EPIR. ....................................................27

Table 9. Values of the minority carrier lifetime, shunt resistance Rsh, generation-recombination 

current, series resistance and open-circuit voltage obtained from three solar cells. ................35

Table 10. Characteristics of ten cells fabricated from the additional in situ iodine doped layers, 

along with the targeted doping profiles. ..................................................................................40

Table 11. Characteristics of eight cells fabricated from the iodine-free in situ indium doped 

layers, along with the targeted doping profiles. .......................................................................41
5 

1 Overview 

The goal of the program was to develop single crystal CdTe-based top cells grown on Si solar 

cells as a platform for the subsequent manufacture of high efficiency tandem cells for CPV 

applications. The program goal architecture, a single-junction single-crystal CdTe-based solar 

cell grown epitaxially on an inactive p-type doped Si substrate, is shown on the left in Figure 1. 

EPIR’s tandem cell architecture that is currently under development (not as a part of this 

program) is shown on the right in Figure 1. The keys to both the single junction and the tandem 

junction cell architectures are the ability to grow high quality single-crystal CdTe and CdZnTe 

layers on p-type Si substrates, to dope the CdTe and CdZnTe controllably, both n and p-type, and 

to make low resistance ohmic front and back contacts.

Figure 1. Preincubator program cell architecture (left) and EPIR’s future tandem cell architecture 

that is currently under development (right).

The specific goals of the program were as follows: 

1. MBE growth and delivery of single-crystal epitaxial CdTe/Si with an X-ray doublecrystal rocking curve full-width-at-half-maximum (DCRC FWHM) < 200 arcsec and of 

single-crystal epitaxial CdZnTe/Si with sufficiently good crystallinity for the fabrication 

of high efficiency solar cells (minority carrier recombination lifetimes 100 ns or longer 

for unintentionally doped samples),

2. N-type doping and delivery of CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si with n > 3 × 1016, 

3. P-type doping and delivery of CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si with p > 3 × 1015, 

4. Achievement and delivery of an extrinsically p-doped CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si sample 

with a minority carrier lifetime τ ≥ 100 ns, and

5. Fabrication and delivery of a single-junction CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si solar cell with 

efficiency η ≥ 15% (dropped from contract).

EPIR Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter EPIR) met and, in terms of the numbers obtained for the 

FWHM, doping levels and lifetime, substantially exceeded the first four of these goals. Early in 

the program EPIR also fabricated a single-junction epitaxial CdZnTe solar cell grown on p-type 

Si having an efficiency measured in-house to be η = 16.4% and almost certainly meeting the Top cell Bottom cell

p++

n++

n+

p+

Future Tandem Junction Cell Architecture

n-CdZnTe
6 

efficiency requirement of the fifth goal. However, this cell was inadvertently destroyed during 

further experimentation. We were unable to reproduce the doping achieved in that cell and as a 

result have had non-ohmic blocking contacts. Thus, we were not able to deliver a cell meeting 

the fifth goal. We are now engaged in a systematic and methodical experimental study of all of 

the issues involved in doping and contacting n- and p-type CdTe and CdZnTe, are making steady 

progress and are confident of solving those issues and reproducibly fabricating CdZnTe cells 

with efficiencies η ≥ 20%. 

Because CdTe solar cells have an almost ideal bandgap for single-junction solar cells, we 

initially proposed goals for our Preincubator program solely for CdTe/Si and CdTe singlejunction solar cells. However, although single-junction CdZnTe cells with a 1.8 eV bandgap 

have a substantially smaller theoretical efficiency than single-junction CdTe cells, that bandgap 

is ideal for two-junction cells with a Si bottom junction. For that reason, such CdZnTe cells are 

more relevant to the EPIR goal of obtaining multijunction cells consisting of II-VI top junctions 

grown on Si bottom junctions. Therefore, in consultation with NREL and the Department of 

Energy, we redirected our research toward the obtaining of high efficiency CdZnTe solar cells 

with a 1.8 eV bandgap, rather than high efficiency CdTe cells. 

2 Focus of the First Quarter (Q1) 

EPIR’s focus during the first quarter was to fulfill the Q1 objectives in the Preincubator proposal. 

The key technology developments targeted during Q1 of the program were as follows: 

1. Establish the growth of thin-film single crystal CdTe (111) on Si substrates using 

molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with an x-ray Double Crystal Rocking Curve (DCRC) 

FWHM < 200 arcsec. 

2. Achieve CdTe n-type doping with a carrier concentration > 3 x 1016 cm-3. 

3. Achieve CdTe p-type doping with a carrier concentration > 3 x 1015 cm-3. 

4. Develop a low resistance ohmic contact to n-type CdTe. 

2.1 Growth of Thin-Film Single-Crystal CdTe (111) on Si

Single-crystal CdTe is grown epitaxially by MBE on (111) oriented Si substrates at EPIR. The 

quality of the single crystal CdTe film is typically measured by x-ray diffraction and is reported 

as a double-crystal rocking curve full-width-at-half–maximum (DCRC FWHM). Figure 2 is a 

plot of the DCRC FWHM of recent single-crystal CdTe/Si layers grown at EPIR. A typical 

MBE grown CdTe/Si layer has a rocking curve FWHM < 200 arcsec. The thickness of these 

layers varies from 5 – 12 μm.
7 

Figure 2. DCRC FWHM of recent single crystal CdTe on Si growths at EPIR. The measurement is 

from the center of the wafer. The blue icon represents the sample delivered to NREL as part of the 

Preincubator program.

Figure 3 shows a DCRC FWHM mapping and a representative single diffraction peak from layer 

D08105, which was sent to NREL for verification as part of the Preincubator program 

deliverable for Q1. 

Figure 3. DCRC FWHM map and representative single rocking curve diffraction peak from CdTe/Si 

layer D08105.

2.2 Establish CdTe n-type Doping with a Carrier Concentration > 3 x 1016 cm-3

CdTe was grown on highly resistive (211)-oriented Si substrates for Hall measurement purposes 

and on highly conductive (111) oriented p-type Si substrates (Si resistivity ~ 0.009 Ω-cm) to 

extract the carrier concentration from C-V measurements. The CdTe samples were undoped in 

the “as-grown” state. The average layer DCRC FWHM of these films varied between 100 and 

160 arcsec. 

2.2.1 Sample Preparation

The CdTe samples were doped n-type by post-growth diffusion of indium into the sample from 

the top surface of the CdTe film. The CdTe surface was cleaned and etched with a DI water/HCl 

solution prior to loading the sample into the evaporation chamber. E-beam evaporation was used 

to deposit In on the freshly etched CdTe surface. The Hall samples were annealed using Rapid 

Thermal Annealing (RTP) in a nitrogen ambient. The longer annealing time was used to diffuse 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0 20 40 60 80

DCRC FWHM (arc sec)

CdTe Layer Number

Single Crystal CdTe on Si at EPIR

DCRC FWHM (center)

D08105

CdTe(422) diffraction peak

0.00E+00

2.00E+04

4.00E+04

6.00E+04

8.00E+04

1.00E+05

1.20E+05

-100 -75 -50 -25 0 25 50 75 100

Width (arcsec)

Intensity (cps)

Sample D08105
8 

the indium to the back surface of the CdTe, resulting in a relatively uniform and flat indium 

profile across the CdTe film to the CdTe/Si interface (see Figure 4). After the diffusion anneal, 

the excess In was etched off the sample surface using an HCl solution. A thick Al layer was 

deposited on the back surface of the Si and annealed to establish an ohmic contact to the p-type 

Si substrate for the C-V analysis.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) was used to establish good ohmic contact to the indium-diffused n-type 

CdTe. The ITO was patterned using photolithography and selectively removed, leaving behind 

only contact pads for van der Pauw Hall measurements (see Figure 5).

Figure 4. Indium concentration SIMS profile of CdTe on Si sample with indium diffused from the 

top surface (left) to the back Si interface (right) with an indium concentration of ~ 3x1018 cm-3. 

Figure 5. Indium tin oxide was deposited on indium-diffused CdTe by e-beam evaporation. The 

TCO layers were patterned with photoresist and selectively etched away leaving behind ohmic 

contact bonding pads that were used for making room temperature Hall measurements. 

2.2.2 Hall Data

The n-type nature of the indium-diffused CdTe layers was successfully measured using a

traditional Hall measurement. Additionally, the ohmic nature of the indium and ITO metal 

contacts on the n-type surface indicates an n-type conversion. If the CdTe had not converted to 

n-type, the indium would form a Schottky contact, as indium has a work function of ~ 4.1 eV. 

Figure 6 illustrates a typical linear ohmic current-voltage (I-V) response between two indium 

contacts on the surface of n-type CdTe. Table 1 gives an overview of the room-temperature Hall 

results from the indium-diffused single crystal CdTe on Si samples. 

1E+14

1E+15

1E+16

1E+17

1E+18

1E+19

1E+20

1E+21

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Concentration (Atoms/cm3)

Depth (μm)

Sample 46F

In

Te(raw ion counts)->

Si

N-type CdTe

TCO

Si

N-type CdTe

TCO TCO

As-Deposited TCO Patterned and Etched
9 

Figure 6. Typical current-voltage (I-V) response between two indium contacts on indium-diffused 

CdTe illustrating the ohmic nature of the indium contacts.

Table 1. Summary of n-type CdTe Hall Data (~298K).

Sample number RTP 

Temperature 

°C

RTP 

time 

(min)

Hall CC 

(cm-3) 

mobility 

(cm2/Vs)

895-4 400 3 9.6E+17 565

886-1 400 9 3.2E+17 488

886-11 400 9 3.7E+17 365

886-16 425 3 3.6E+17 308

886-10 425 3 2.9E+17 505

886-4 425 3 2.8E+17 492

895-7 425 3 6.7E+17 300

895-8 425 3 4.0E+17 264

887-5 425 3 2.3E+17 537

887-6 425 3 3.8E+17 471

887-7 425 3 4.4E+17 509

895-19 425 9 4.7E+17 453

886-7 450 3 3.4E+17 429

886-8 450 3 2.8E+17 531

886-5 450 9 1.4E+17 523

886-13 450 9 1.5E+17 501

Summary of the Hall Data:

• A consistent > 1017 cm-3 n-doping with a mobility between 350-550 cm2/Vs was 

achieved with our process. 

Voltage (V)

Current (Amps)
10

2.2.3 Capacitance-Voltage Measurements of Indium Diffused CdTe

For the C-V samples, indium was deposited as the front n-side contact. The indiffused indium 

layer forms an n-p+ heterojunction between the n-CdTe and the p+-Si substrate. This structure 

was used for extracting the n-type carrier concentration using C-V analysis.

The lower doped n-CdTe is depleted during a standard C-V voltage measurement; therefore it is 

possible to extract the n-type carrier concentration of the CdTe layer from a C-V sweep of the 

layer. The n-type carrier concentration extracted from the C-V measurement shown in Figure 7

indicates an average n-type doping of ~5x1018 cm-3 over the region probed. This number is 

qualitatively similar to the indium concentration determined by SIMS for the same sample (46F), 

suggesting a high level of dopant activation in the CdTe layer. This C-V extracted carrier 

concentration is also qualitatively similar to the Hall carrier concentration measured for similar 

samples. The SIMS measurement was performed by Evans Analytical Group (EAG) and verifies 

that the indium-diffused all the way to the silicon substrate and agrees well with the measured CV carrier concentration. 

Figure 7. C-V measurement of indium-diffused CdTe. The extracted n-type carrier concentration 

for this layer is ~ 5x1018 cm-3. 

2.2.4 Establish CdTe p-type Doping with Carrier Concentration > 3 x 1015 cm-3

Multiple approaches were adopted during Q1 to dope the absorber material p-type: 

• Post growth Cu diffusion 

• Post growth Au diffusion 

• In-situ As during MBE growth followed by an activation anneal 

For either Au or Cu diffusion, a thin layer of Cu or Au was deposited on a CdTe/Si layer and 

then diffused in by drive-in anneals in an N2 ambient. Schottky diodes were fabricated to extract 

the p-type carrier concentration from a C-V analysis. Indium was used as the Schottky contact to 

the p-type CdTe. Approximately 6,000 Å of In was deposited on the CdTe surface to form the 

Schottky contact. A Cu/Au stack was used as the p-side ohmic contact. Figure 8 (left) and 

(right) show the plots of the C-V and the extracted active p-type carrier concentrations from 

representative Cu and Au doped CdTe layers. 

0.0E+00

2.0E-09

4.0E-09

6.0E-09

8.0E-09

1.0E-08

1.2E-08

1.4E-08

1.6E-08

-3 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

1/C2 (1/F2)

Voltage (V)

Sample 46F

contact area = 0.018 cm2
11

Figure 8. C-V measurement of Cu (left) and Au (right) diffused at 4000C for 10 min in CdTe.

In parallel to the post-growth metal diffusion doping of CdTe, arsenic based in-situ doping 

during MBE growth was also established and is still under development for repeatably reaching 

higher doping concentrations in the “as-grown” layers. The in-situ As2 doped samples were 

annealed at 400 ̊C for 30 min in a N2 atmosphere. A maximum p-type carrier concentration of 7 x 

1015 cm-3 was achieved.

2.3 Develop a Low Resistance Contact to n-type CdTe

During the first quarter of this project, indium tin oxide (ITO) was used as a front contact on the 

In-doped n-type CdTe. Both sputtering and e-beam evaporation were developed for ITO 

deposition. Glass slides were used for the development and optimization of the ITO process. 

Table 2 and Table 3 summarize the performances of the ITOs deposited by sputtering and ebeam evaporation on glass slides.

Table 2. Summary of the ITO Sputtered at EPIR.

1.5·1017 cm-3 p-type 3.0·1017 cm-3 p-type

Layer Thickness (Å) Resistivity x10-4 

(Ohm-cm)

Transmission 

> 80% (nm)

Max 

Transmission 

V09051 4 400-1450nm 91% at 450nm

V09051-b 4 400-1500nm 91% at 450nm

V09051-1 5.4

V09052b 1100 3.6 400-1300nm 91% at 470nm

V09053 78 450-650nm 88% at 500nm

V09053a 6 400-1600nm 90% at 500 nm

V09053-1 3.6 410-1290nm 91% at 470nm

V09053-2 2.8 410-1210nm 90% at 470nm

V09053-3 5.4 90% at 490nm

V09053-4 3.6 410-1310nm 91% at 500nm

V09053-5 3.7 410-1160nm 89% at 470nm

V09054 24 500-840nm 90% at 600nm 

V09054a 5 450-1500nm 92% at 570nm

V09054b 5.4

V09054e 4.5 450-1250nm 91% at 550nm 

V09055 18 550-1000nm 90% at 660nm 

V09055a 4.8 500-1250nm 91% at 630nm

V09056 6.1 420-1650nm 90% at 470nm

V09056a 4 400-1340nm 91% at 460nm

V09056c 2.5 390-1120nm 90% at 450nm

V09056d 3 390-1230nm 90% at 450nm

2000

1150

1200

1200

1500
12

Table 3. Summary of e-beam Deposited ITO. 

During the e-beam evaporation, the deposited oxide layer loses oxygen due to the energetic 

nature of the e-beam process. Because of this fact, the e-beam evaporation of ITO is performed 

in a flowing oxygen environment. 

3 Focus of the Second Quarter (Q2) 

EPIR’s focus during the second quarter was to fulfill the Q2 objectives in the Preincubator 

proposal and the fabrication of an initial solar cell. The key technology developments targeted 

during Q2 of the program were as follows: 

5. To grow single crystal thin-film CdTe and CdZnTe ((111) and (211)) on p-type doped Si 

substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). 

6. Achieve top-layer n-type carrier concentration in those CdTe and CdZnTe films with 

active carrier concentration > 3 x 1016 cm-3 and high majority carrier mobility.

7. Achieve absorber p-type carrier concentration > 3 x 1015 cm-3 in CdTe and CdZnTe films 

grown epitaxially on p-type Si substrates.

8. Fabrication of a single-junction CdZnTe solar cell. 

3.1 Growth of Thin-Film CdZnTe on Si Substrates with Reasonable Crystallinity

Using MBE

The growth conditions required for high quality single-crystal CdZnTe on Si growth are different 

from the optimal growth conditions for epitaxial single-crystal CdTe on Si. To optimize the 

growth conditions, a series of growth runs was performed on (111) and (211) oriented Si 

substrates. 

A series of different CdZnTe test structures was grown with different MBE growth conditions 

including growth-interrupted annealing cycles during the CdZnTe layer growth to relieve the 

misfit strain of the layer. 

The final growth structure is a Cd1-xZnxTe/ZnTe/Si layer structure on p-type Si (see Figure 9). 

This structure facilitates ease of growth and is useful for single-junction and possible future 

16-1 ~1600 9.2 450-1050 89% @ 600nm

16-3 ~1600 8.3 350-1090 89% @ 590nm

16-7 ~1600 11 360-1220 91% @ 590nm

16-9 ~1600 8.3 350-1100 90% @ 590nm

16-8 ~1600 7.7 360-1140 90% @ 590nm

Transmission 

> 80% (nm)

Max 

Transmission 

Resistivity x10-4 

(Ohm-cm) Layer

Thickness 

(Å)
13

multijunction devices. The FWHM of Cd1-xZnxTe/ZnTe/Si layers is not yet as optimized as that 

of CdTe/ZnTe/Si layers, however it has the potential to reach similar values. 

Figure 9. Cartoon cross-section of EPIR’s growth stack (left) and cross-sectional TEM images and 

a stick model of the II-VI/Si interface (right).

The EPIR single-junction device structure uses p-type Si as the back contact, so all device 

orientated growths were on p-doped low resistivity Si substrates. The growth process and the 

characterization (wafer image, Nomarski and HRXRD) of the most recent layers are presented 

here. In all cases, the FWHM of CdZnTe grown on (111) Si is larger than that of CdZnTe grown 

on (211) Si, an has a correspondingly higher defect concentration. In the best case, the rocking 

curve FWHM for growth on (111) Si was 2188 arcsec. By HRXRD analysis, the epilayer is tilted 

~ 8° away from the surface normal, and both (111) and (211) orientations were detected. 

However, from the diffracted intensities, the (111) orientation is the dominant orientation.

The layer surface is wavy (see Nomarski image in Figure 10). This surface morphology is a 

result of the off-axis tilt of the surface and possibly also from an inadequate relaxation of the 

ZnTe buffer layer prior to the CdZnTe growth. 

Figure 10. Wafer image, 100x Normarski image of the surface and rocking curve of a recent 

CdZnTe/ZnTe/Si (111) layer grown at EPIR. 

Figure 11 below shows different DCRC FHWM data for recent CdTe and CdZnTe layers grown 

on (111) and (211) oriented Si substrates. Five layers were grown on n-Si (211) substrates (for 

p-type Si

p-type ZnTe

p-type CdTe or CdZnTe
14

doping control experiments) and the others were grown on p-Si (111) substrates. The highest 

quality CdTe and CdZnTe to date have been grown on (211) oriented substrates. However, 

growth optimization should allow for high quality crystal growth on (111) oriented substrates, 

and in fact CdTe has been grown with a FWHM < 120 arcsec on (111) Si at EPIR. Although it 

is possible that all future growths will be on (111) Si, the best results to date have been on (211) 

orientated substrates.

Figure 11. XRD rocking curve FHWM of CdTe and CdZnTe grown on (211) and (111) orientated Si 

substrates. Growth on (211) provides the for the lowest rocking curve values.

Because of the recent improved results observed in terms of the FWHM and defect densities for 

CZT grown on Si(211), low resistivity p-type Si(211) substrates (< 0.005 Ohm-cm) are being 

adopted for future growth of CZT for solar cell development purposes. 

3.2 p-type Doping of CdTe

High efficiency II-VI based solar cells require reproducible p-type doping with carrier 

concentrations > 5 × 1015 cm-3 for n-on-p device architectures. CdTe and CdZnTe can be doped 

in situ during MBE growth with different dopant species. Arsenic is being developed as one 

possible p-type dopant for single crystal CdTe and CdZnTe single-junction solar cells. An 

arsenic cracker cell is used to crack As4 to As2 during the growth process. Arsenic is not active 

as-grown and requires a post-growth annealing process. Different annealing conditions to 

activate the in situ As-doped CdTe/Si layers were tried. Figure 12 plots the extracted carrier 

concentration from capacitance – voltage (C-V) measurement for a series of samples with 

various activation anneals. The arsenic level was measured by SIMS to be approximately 5 × 

1016 cm-3 for the layers shown in Figure 12. 

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

0 20 40 60 80

DCRC FWHM (arc sec)

CdTe Layer Number

Single Crystal CdTe and CdZnTe on Si at EPIR

DCRC FWHM CdTe/(211)Si

DCRC FWHM CZT/(211)Si

DCRC FHWM CZT/(111)Si
15

Figure 12. Scatter plot of the measured carrier concentration for sequential samples under various 

arsenic activation anneals in single crystal CdTe/Si.

Shorter anneals seem to activate As2 more efficiently than longer anneals. This may be due to the 

fact that anneals that are too long or performed at too high a temperature create more Te 

vacancies (donors) than there are As atoms to fill them. These anneals at too high a temperature 

or too long a duration would increase the ratio of Te vacancies (donors) to Cd and Zn vacancies 

(acceptors), effectively compensating the p-type As2 doping. Conversely, a shorter anneal would 

not result in as many compensating donor VTe sites, and the As2 concentration would result in a 

higher effective p-type doping level. A procedure has been developed to establish the 

reproducibility of the As2 activation and to establish its value for larger substrates.

Copper and gold have also been explored as p-type dopants. Cu or Au was deposited on clean 

undoped CdTe/Si substrates, followed by diffusion and activation. Figure 13 is a scatter plot of 

the measured carrier concentration from recent Cu and Au doping experiments performed on 

single crystal CdTe/Si.

Figure 13. Scatter plot of carrier concentration from recent Cu and Au activation anneals for single 

crystal CdTe/Si.

1.E+14

1.E+15

1.E+16

1.E+17

CC (cm-3)

p-type dopant

Scatter plot of arsenic activation
16

3.3 n-type Doping of CdTe 

During Q2, EPIR delivered to NREL, as part of the Preincubator Program, indium-doped singlecrystal CdTe on a Si substrate. The details of the sample preparation were discussed in the first 

quarterly report. Figure 14 shows a cross-section of the delivered sample. The single-crystal 

CdTe/Si sample was doped n-type with indium by indiffusion from the top surface. The indium 

was deposited by e-beam evaporation onto the sample surface after CdTe (CdZnTe) growth.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) contacts were deposited on the four corners of the sample and used as 

ohmic contacts for Hall measurements. 

Figure 14. Schematic of indium doped single-crystal CdTe sample delivered to NREL (program 

deliverable) during the second quarter (Q2). 

Figure 15 is a scatter plot of recent room-temperature Hall carrier concentration and mobility 

data for n-doped single crystal CdTe. EPIR has demonstrated routine n-type doping of single 

crystal CdTe with carrier concentrations > 1017 cm-3 and with mobilities greater than 500 

cm

2

/Vs. Recent annealing improvements have resulted in n-type CdTe Hall mobilities of 

approximately 1,500 cm2/Vs including the sample delivered to NREL as part of the Preincubator 

program. 

Figure 15. Room temperature Hall carrier concentration (left) and mobility (right) scatter plots of ntype single crystal CdTe/Si samples grown at EPIR illustrating n-type carrier concentrations > 1017

cm-3 and n-type mobilities greater than 1,000 cm2

/Vs. 

n-type CdTe (Thickness: 5 um)

Si (211) substrate - undoped

TCO Contact TCO Contact

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

mobility (cm2/Vs)

RTP

Closed tube

1E+16

1E+17

1E+18

1E+19

carrier concentration (cm-3)

Pre incubator Target
17

3.4 n-type Doping of CdZnTe

During the second quarter, EPIR started working on the n-type doping of CdZnTe with the 

sample D10025, both single junction and tandem cells will have CdZnTe as the absorber and 

window layer. Table 4 is a snapshot of our preliminary initial success in doping single crystal 

CdZnTe/Si using the same approach as used for doping single crystal CdTe/Si. 

Table 4. Preliminary n-type doping of single crystal CdZnTe/Si.

Sample Carrier 

Concentration (cm-3)

Mobility 

(cm2/Vs)

25-pp -7.4E16 1,572

25-ss -7.8E16 1,500

A detailed study is needed to repeat and reproduce these CdZnTe doping results over a larger 

number of samples; however, the initial n-type doping results are comparable to the singlecrystal CdTe/Si results and are very promising. 

3.5 Initial Solar Cell Fabrications

3.5.1 Junction Depth

Preliminary EPIR devices were fabricated by diffusing indium in from the top surface of a 

nominally p-type CdTe or CdZnTe layer to form the n-side emitter in an n-on-p cell architecture. 

SIMS analysis has been performed on a few of the early cells to determine the emitter thickness 

(junction depth). Figure 16 is a SIMS plot of the indium dopant level for two developmental 

solar cells fabricated at EPIR. The junction depths of early cells as measured by SIMS, assuming 

substantial activation of the indium, were from 1 μm to > 3 μm (see Figure 16). In addition to 

obtaining consistently high activation, future cell development will focus on reducing the 

junction depth. This will be achieved by in situ n-type doping, but also could be achieved by 

reducing the diffusion time or temperature, or by controlled back etching to remove part of the ndoped layer. 
18

Figure 16. Indium SIMS profile of diffused junctions on EPIR developmental cells indicating a 

junction depth of several microns (depending on the anneal conditions). The green line 

represents the ideal junction depth of ~ 200 nm in thickness.

3.5.2 Short-Circuit Current Density 

The short-circuit current density Jsc can be reduced from its ideal value by three effects: (1) the 

reflection of light at the front surface of a solar cell, (2) the absorption of light in any coating on 

the front surface, and (3) the recombination of electrons and holes. The third effect also occurs 

primarily at the front, in the emitter layer, because of the high electron density there, which 

makes the minority carrier recombination time in the emitter layer extremely small, and because 

the hole mobilities are much smaller than are electron mobilities. Theoretically, Jsc should have 

been 22 mA/cm2

 for the Eg = 1.8 eV cells and 26 mA/cm2 for the Eg = 1.66 eV cells. There was 

relatively little variation in the values of Jsc among the different cells we fabricated. For the best 

cells the value of Jsc was ~16 mA/cm2 for both Eg = 1.8 eV and Eg = 1.66 eV, both with and 

without an ITO coating. We assume that the ITO both absorbed some incident light and reduced 

the surface reflection, with the two effects cancelling out, consistent with the measured optical 

properties of our ITO coatings. From the optical properties of the ITO coatings, we estimate that 

front-surface reflection and light absorption reduced the possible value of Jsc from 22 mA/cm2

 to 

~18 mA/cm2 for Eg = 1.8 eV. Had there been substantial activation of the indium dopants in the 

very thick emitter layer, almost all electron-hole pairs created in that layer would have failed to 

contribute to Jsc, and its value would have been reduced by more than another factor of two. That 

was perhaps the first sign that only an extremely small fraction of the indium dopants were 

activated. The reason for Jsc not being larger in the cell with less Zn (a lower bandgap) may be 

that the indium activation is better with less Zn, which has been observed by others. 

Desired junction depth

SIMS indium profile of actual junction depth on two different EPIR CZT Cells

EPIR’s current emitter depth 

~ 1.5-3 um in depth. We 

need to reduce emitter 

thickness by over an order 

of magnitude.

1. Reduced diffusion times.

2. Deep diffusion and back 

etching.

3. Grown junctions – long 

term solution.
19

3.5.3 Fill Factor

A series of cells were fabricated using an indium grid only as the top n-side contact using 

different indium metal thicknesses. A third contact option using indium tin oxide (ITO) was 

explored as a method for improving the junction fill factor. Figure 17 is a plot of the 

experimental cell fill factor for two different cell configurations comparing indium grids of 

different thicknesses and for an ITO layer used as the top contact. While there is still 

considerable scatter in the data, the ITO layer dramatically improved the fill factor of the 

devices, with the best cell fill factors reaching into the mid to upper 70% range, a very promising 

result.

Figure 17. EPIR’s single crystal CdZnTe/Si solar cell fill factor for different front contact 

configurations. The use of ITO as the front side contact has dramatically improved the junction 

fill factor of our preliminary experimental devices.

3.5.4 Open-Circuit Voltage

The difference between the bandgap of the semiconductor from which a solar cell is fabricated 

measured in volts, Vg = Eg/q where q is the absolute value of the charge of an electron, and the 

open-circuit voltage Voc of the cell is an especially important measure of solar cell quality. One 

cannot obtain state-of-the-art values of Vg - Voc without having both a p-doping level ≥ 1017 cm-3

and minority carrier lifetimes ≥ 50 ns, as shown by Sites and Pan. However, unlike the fill factor 

and short-circuit current, Vg - Voc is essentially independent of light reflection at the upper 

surface of the cell and of the front and back contact resistances. We obtained values of Vg - Voc ≈ 

0.46 V for our best cells, both with Eg ≈ 1.66 eV and with Eg ≈ 1.80 eV, approximately equal to 

the best Vg - Voc values found for c-Si and for III-V materials, and only approximately ~0.04 V 

above the best value for GaAs. This excellent value of Voc was obtained with p = 1016 cm-3; we 

have since been able to increase p in the absorber region to 1017 cm-3, which according to the Fill Factor (%)

Front Metal Thickness (Å)

Indium

ITO

Front 

Contact

III-V FF Range
20

calculations of Sites and Pan would increase Voc by 0.06 V and decrease Vg - Voc to 0.40 V, 

making it even smaller than its value for GaAs.

We first determined the Zn concentrations and bandgaps of the CdZnTe layers from which the 

solar cells were fabricated. The Zn compositions of the CdZnTe layers were determined by 

measuring the position of the 2θmes angle by HRXRD. From the 2θ values of ZnTe (211) and 

CdTe (211) (76.3866 ̊ and 71.2058 ̊ respectively), one can find the Zn content of any 

composition of CdZnTe from 

. (1) 

The corresponding equation can be derived for the (111) parameters, leading to 

. (2) 

We found y = 0.278 and y = 0.518 for the two CdZnTe layers from which cells were fabricated 

Because of the large difference between the lattice constants of CdTe and ZnTe (>5.5%), this 

determination of the Zn concentration y should be accurate despite the strain in the CdZnTe 

layers. However, there are substantial differences between the values of Eg given by the three 

different formulas in the literature for Eg(y) for these concentrations; they give Eg = 1.66 ± 0.04 

eV for y = 0.278 and Eg = 1.80 ± 0.04 eV for y = 0.518. Therefore, we separately measured Eg

optically for both layers. As we have spectral response equipment only for the infrared and do 

not have photoluminescence equipment, we made initial measurements of Eg in-house by 

reflectivity before sending the cells out for spectral response measurements. We compared 

specific features in the reflectivity of CdTe and ZnTe near their bandgaps with their known 

bandgaps, and then used the same relations to determine the bandgaps of the CdZnTe layers from 

their reflectivities. We again found Eg = 1.66 eV for y = 0.278 and Eg = 1.80 for the two layers. 

By comparing the accuracy of this same technique for HgCdTe samples with known bandgaps, 

we estimate the uncertainty in these determinations to be approximately ± 0.02 eV. 

3.5.5 Cell Efficiency

The initial cell efficiencies were below 10%, largely due to low fill factors and low short-circuit 

currents. However, after using an ITO top coating, our best cell, with a 77% fill factor and Voc = 

1.34, achieved an efficiency of 16.4%, 1.4% above the goal set in our proposal. I-V curves for 

this cell and for our best cell for y = 0.278 are shown in Figure 18. We are confident of being 

able to consistently repeat the performance of that cell within the next year, and are now engaged 

in a systematic scientific study to understand all of the physical factors that can affect the 

performance of a CdZnTe cell. Furthermore, achieving a cell with the same fill factor and opencircuit voltage, but with greatly reduced reflection and absorption of light at the front surface 

would yield a one-sun single-junction cell with an efficiency of ~22%.
21

Figure 18. I-V curves under one-sun illumination from our best CdZnTe cells for two Zn 

concentrations. 

4 Focus of the Third Quarter (Q3) 

EPIR’s focus during the third quarter was to fulfill the Q3 objectives in the Preincubator 

proposal. The key technology developments targeted during Q3 of the program were as follows: 

1. The growth of thin-film CdZnTe on silicon substrates with high crystal quality using 

molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). 

2. Layer stress reduction and the doping of CdZnTe (CZT) n-type.

3. Achieving low resistance ohmic contacts on the p-type absorber layer and consistently 

achieving p-doping concentrations > 3 x 1016 cm-3. 

4. Measurement and reduction of the components of the cell series resistance (Rs) 

4.1 Growth of Thin-Film CdZnTe on Si Substrates with High Crystal Quality

Using MBE

CdZnTe absorber layers have been grown on p-type doped Si substrates with both (111) and 

(211) orientations (see Figure 19). Two different growth structures were used for solar cell 

fabrication. One growth structure is a single-layer p-doped CdZnTe absorber layer (Figure 19

left), and the other structure is an in situ grown CdZnTe p-n homojunction with both the p-type 

and n-type regions being formed during MBE growth. Two different “grown-junction” structures 

were grown during the past quarter (Figure 19 center and right respectively). The growth 

parameters of interest are highlighted in Table 5 and Table 6 for (211) and (111) oriented silicon 
22

substrates respectively. In these tables, the layers are classified depending on the growth 

structure (see Figure 19). The values given in the columns referring to the In concentration are 

obtained by SIMS in a previous experiment. The Incap column is checked if an indium cap is 

deposited on top of the stacking at the end of the growth. 

Figure 19. Three different CdZnTe structures grown on Si(111) and Si(211).

Table 5. Growth characteristics of CdZnTe grown on (211) oriented silicon substrates.

Tunnel Junction Tunnel Junction Tunnel Junction
23

Table 6. Growth characteristics of CdZnTe grown on (111) oriented silicon substrates. 

The Zn composition of the CdZnTe layer is determined by measuring the position of the 2θmes

angle by HRXRD, as is discussed in Section 3.5.4 above. Table 7 presents the results of the Zn 

composition for CdZnTe layers grown on (211) oriented Si with a total thickness of 3 microns. 

The full width at half maximum (FWHM) each layer is also presented. The FWHM values of 

indium doped and undoped samples are nearly identical meaning that the presence of an Indoped layer in the structure does not significantly influence the crystal quality of the layer. The 

same conclusion can be drawn for the influence of layer growth rate on the layer FWHM.

Table 7. FWHM, Zn content for 3 μm thick CdZnTe grown on Si(211).
24

The surface morphology of the as-grown CdZnTe layers was inspected after each growth run. 

The undoped and indium doped CdZnTe layers look similar (from a surface morphological 

point-of-view) when the growth substrate is (211) Si (see Figure 20). The surface morphology of 

layers D10071 and D10088, respectively, shown in Figure 20 represent typical undoped (left) 

and indium doped (right) samples grown on (211) Si. However, the surface morphology is not 

the same for as-grown and indium doped CdZnTe layers grown on Si(111) as is shown in Figure 

21 (left) (D10097) and (right) (D10093), where the surface morphology of the indium doped 

sample is seen to be dramatically different from that of the undoped sample. 

Figure 20 p-CdZnTe sample D10071 (left) and n-CdZnTe/p-CdZnTe sample D10088 (right) grown on 

Si(211).

Figure 21. p-CdZnTe sample D10097 (left) and n-CdZnTe/p-CdZnTe sample D10093 (right) grown 

on Si(111). 

The difference between the surface morphology of the two samples grown on (111)Si can be 

explained by the surface crystal structure. At the end of the growth of n-CdZnTe/pCdZnTe/Si(211), the RHEED pattern is perfectly 2D whereas it is 3D for the same structure 

grown on Si(111). Note that for the growth of a single p-CdZnTe layer, the RHEED is 2D at the 

end of the growth for both substrates. 

To determine the impact of the Zn content on the crystal quality of CdZnTe grown on Si, the Zn 

content for a series of samples grown on (211) oriented Si was intentionally varied between 20% 
25

and 50%. The XRD rocking curve FWHM was measured for each sample and was found to be 

similar for all layers regardless of the Zn fraction. In the second quarter we demonstrated that a 

growth rate of about 0.8 μm/hour results in a CdZnTe layer tilted by ~ 10 degrees from the 

silicon surface for CdZnTe grown on Si(111). These highly tilted layers were not suitable for 

further device processing. The CdZnTe layers grown on Si(111) that are presented in this report 

are grown using a growth rate of 0.5 μm/hour. For these growth conditions, no layer tilt was 

measured relative to the Si substrate. 

In summary, we are now able to grow high quality CdZnTe routinely with any Zn composition 

with a low rocking curve FWHM. We also are able to screen the as-grown wafers for layer 

stress prior to cell processing.

4.2 Layer Stress and Doping CdZnTe (CZT) n-type

Two techniques were used in the third quarter (Q3) for doping CdZnTe n-type: 

1. In situ doping using co-evaporation of CdTe, ZnTe and In, in order to create CdZnTe:In 

n-type layers.

2. Post-growth deposition of an In layer by e-beam evaporation followed by a hightemperature indium diffusion anneal to diffuse the indium into the CdZnTe to dope it ntype. 

For in situ doped CdZnTe, all of the layers appear normal after growth when inspected under a 

Nomarski optical microscope. However, after the diffusion of indium into the sample from the 

sample surface, cracks are sometimes observed when the sample is examined under a Nomarski 

microscope. The formation of cracks during indium diffusion was found to be independent of 

layer growth rate, layer Zn fraction over the range investigated, 20% Zn to 50% Zn, and the 

thickness of the layer. As an example, Figure 22 shows the Nomarski pictures after indium

diffusion for two different wafers: (left) D10056, which showed cracks after indium diffusion 

and layer D10062 (right) that survived indium diffusion without cracking. 

Figure 22. Surface morphology of CdZnTe after In diffusion: (left) cracks on sample D10056; (right) 

no cracks on sample D10062.
26

From our experiments, we observed that there is a strong correlation between the appearance of 

cracks after the In diffusion and the spread in the XRD omega scan. The omega scan is a 

mapping of the angle between the analyzed area and the X-ray beam in the Bragg Brentano 

geometry. The variation in this angle is a signature of a local curvature of the wafer which can be 

induced by a strain occurring during layer growth. By dispersion mapping the wafers, it is 

possible to screen out high stress wafers prior to cell processing. It is also possible to control the 

growth to eliminate almost all high stress wafers.

4.3 Achieving Low Resistance Ohmic Contacts on the p-type Absorber Layer 

and Achieving p-type Doping Concentrations > 3 x 1016 cm-3

CdZnTe samples with Zn concentrations between 20% and 50% were doped p-type to measure 

the carrier concentration by Van der-Paw Hall measurements. An undoped high resistive thick 

CdTe buffer layer was grown in between the Si substrate and the p-type CdZnTe layer to 

electrically isolate the CdZnTe layer from the Si substrates. Figure 23 is a cartoon cross-sectional 

schematic of the layer structure used for Hall measurements. 

Figure 23. Cartoon schematic of the Hall sample layer structure.

After growth, the samples were diced into 11 x 11 mm2 pieces. Photolithography was used to 

pattern contacts at the four corners of each sample. Thin Cu/Au contacts were deposited on the 

samples to form ohmic contacts to the p-type CdZnTe. Room temperature Hall measurements 

were performed on the samples and are listed in Table 8. Carrier concentrations in the range of 

1017 to 1019 cm-3 and carrier mobilities in the range of 5 – 15 cm2

/Vs were found from the Hall 

measuements. 
27

Table 8. Hall Data for p-type CdZnTe Layers Grown at EPIR.

Layers D10029 and D10049 (Figure 24) were grown with different p-type dopant levels. 

Samples from layer 49 were shipped to NREL as part of the Preincubator deliverables. The Hall 

numbers of layer 49 were later confirmed by NREL. 

Figure 24. Scatter plot of five different room temperature Hall measurements performed for two 

different p-type CdZnTe layers. A sample from layer 49 was sent to NREL as one of the 

Preincubator deliverables. 

To confirm that the Zn was not interdiffusing into the CdTe buffer layer, test samples were

annealed from layer 49 at higher temperature (400 ̊C for 30 min in N2). A SIMS analysis of the 

annealed sample verified that there was almost no interdiffusion of Zn in the CdTe buffer layer 

from the neighboring CdZnTe and ZnTe layers (Figure 25).
28

Figure 25. SIMS Zn, Cd and Te profile of the CdZnTe/CdTe/Si layer structure used for Hall 

illustrating the limited interdiffusion of Zn into the CdTe buffer layer. 

Courtesy of Evans Analytical Group (EAG).

In summary, we have achieved high levels of p-type doping in CdZnTe samples. We have also 

demonstrated that the Zn within our wafers is stable under high-temperature anneals.

4.4 Measurement and Reduction of the Components of the Cell Series 

Resistance (Rs) 

Some of the recent cells fabricated at EPIR during the Preincubator program have suffered from 

a high series resistance (Rs) as measured by the current-voltage (I-V) response of the cell. Figure 

26 is a plot of the dark current-voltage (I-V) response of a single crystal CdZnTe/Si cell 

fabricated at EPIR. A model fit of the I-V curve resulted in a series resistance > 1,000 Ohm·cm2

and an ideality factor significantly greater than 3 (usually indicating a very high contact 

resistance). The dynamic resistance area product (RdA) is plotted as a function of voltage for the 

same cell in Figure 27, illustrating the high dynamic resistance under a forward bias. 
29

Figure 26. Dark I-V curve of a high series resistance CdZnTe/Si cell with an anomalously high 

ideality factor.

Figure 27. Dynamic resistance-area (RdA) vs. voltage response of the cell from Figure 28,

illustrating the high series resistance as observed in the far forward bias region of the I-V curve.

A series of experiments were performed to isolate the source of the series resistance and 

eliminate it. Figure 28 shows the cross-section of the EPIR cell structure. The anomalous high 

series resistance in our cell structure could be from multiple sources, including the front metal/nCZT interface, the cell emitter, the p-CdZnTe absorber layer, the p-CdZnTe/ZnTe interface, the 

ZnTe/Si interface, the 500 μm thick p-type Si and/or the back Si/Al contact. 

Voltage (V)

Current (A/cm2)
30

Figure 28. Cross-section schematic of EPIR’s single junction device structure. 

To determine the origin of the overall cell series resistance, different parts of the cell structure 

stack were probed independently and the series resistance of each part of the cell stack was 

compared with the total stack Rs (see Figure 29). The I-V response of the entire cell stack 

measured in the dark was compared with the dark I-V response of the different cell components. 

The resistance was determined from the far forward bias characteristics of the current-voltage 

response. The dynamic resistance-voltage response was derived from the current voltage 

response and used to determine the series resistance of each component in forward bias (+1 Volt 

was used as the standard for comparison). It was found that the resistance across the entire stack 

between contacts 1 and 4 (R1-4) was orders of magnitude higher than when either R1-2 or R1-3 was 

measured, indicating that the high series resistance was on the n-side (emitter side) of the 

junction. 

Figure 29. Cartoon schematic of the cell structure with contacts located on different parts of the 

cell stack that were used to isolate the location of the cell series resistance.

Al Back Contact

Silicon 

ZnTe

P – type CdZnTe

N - type CdZnTe

ITO

Buffer Layer
31

A series of experiments were performed in which a uniform thick indium layer was used as the 

top contact to the n-side of the solar cell. The thick indium was deposited by e-beam evaporation 

and annealed to form an ohmic contact to the n-side of the junction. The cell test structure is 

illustrated in Figure 30. 

Figure 30. Cross-sectional schematic of the cell test structure used to reduce the series 

resistance on the n-side of the junction. Thick indium contacts were diffused into the n-side of 

the CdZnTe in an attempt to form a low resistance n-side contact to the CdZnTe cell. The thick 

indium is not optically transparent and therefore only dark I-V curves could be measured.

Dark I-V measurements were performed on the test structure illustrated in Figure 30. The dark 

current voltage response from one of the test cells is plotted in Figure 31. A model fit to the dark 

I-V is plotted in Figure 32. The model fit to the dark I-V illustrates a dramatically lower series 

resistance and a junction ideality factor (n) of approximately 1.4. Figure 33 is a plot of the 

junction RdA versus voltage response for the same junction. Note the reduced RdA product at 1 

V compared with the RdA product at 1 V from the cell in Figure 27. This confirms that the high 

series resistance of the recent cells was due to the n-side contact. 

Buffer Layer
32

Figure 31. Dark current-voltage response of a single crystal CdZnTe/Si cell with a solid indium 

contact on the top surface.

Figure 32. Model fit (red line) to the dark I-V response of a single crystal CdZnTe/Si cell with a 

solid indium contact on the top surface shown in Figure 31. The junction ideality factor (n) is ~ 1.4 

for this cell and the junction series resistance is dramatically lower than that of the cell in Figure 

27. 

-0.25

-0.15

-0.05

0.05

0.15

0.25

0.35

0.45

-3.00 -2.00 -1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 Current (A/cm2)

Voltage (V)

Dark IV - CdZnTe/Si

Current Density (A/cm2)
33

Figure 33. RdA product vs. cell voltage for the same cell as from Figure 31 and Figure 32. Note that 

the dynamic resistance at 1 Volt is ~ 4 Ohm cm2

. This is an orders of magnitude lower resistance 

than that of the cell in Figure 27. 

Additional improvements to the n-side contact have reduced the contact resistance to levels 

where the total cell series resistance is starting to be dominated by the resistance of the Si 

substrate. The challenge moving forward is to design an n-side contact metal grid structure that 

will allow for optical measurements on the cells while preserving the improved n-side contact 

resistance.

5 Focus of the Fourth Quarter (Q4)

EPIR’s focus during the fourth quarter was to fulfill the Q4 objectives in the Preincubator 

proposal and to systematically study all of the factors that may affect the efficiency of a singlejunction CdZnTe solar cell so as to be able to consistently replicate and improve on the results of 

our best cell discussed in Section 3. The key technology developments targeted during Q4 of the 

program were as follows: 

1. Determination of the bulk minority carrier lifetime τ of unintentionally p-doped CdZnTe 

grown on Si by MBE and delivery of a sample with τ > 100 ns to NREL

2. N-type iodine doping of CdZnTe 

5.1 Determination of the Bulk Minority Carrier Lifetime τ of Unintentionally pdoped CdZnTe (the absorber layer material)

The program goal with respect to minority carrier recombination lifetimes was to achieve 

lifetimes >100 ns in unintentionally p-doped CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si and to deliver a sample with 

1

10

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

-3.00 -2.00 -1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00

RdA (Ohm cm2)

Voltage (V)

Dark IV - CdZnTe/Si
34

such a lifetime to NREL. The bulk minority carrier lifetime τ of unintentionally p-doped CdTe 

and CdZnTe was measured at EPIR, NREL and Fisk University by a variety of techniques, with 

different techniques giving very different results. At EPIR it was measured initially by a 

contactless microwave method, later by photoconductive decay, and finally by the analysis of the 

light and dark I-V curves of solar cells. At NREL, the lifetime was measured by time-resolved 

photoluminescence (TRPL) and photoconductive decay (PCD); and by Arnold Burger at Fisk 

University, the lifetime was measured by alpha-particle-induced current decay. All 

measurements were performed on samples with p no greater than ~1015 cm-3, and thus measured 

the Shockley-Read-Hall lifetime. Auger recombination is negligible in CdTe and CdZnTe 

epilayers, and the radiative lifetime, τr ≈ 9.4×109 cm-3s × (300/T) c

-1, is ~9 μs for T = 300 K and 

p = 1015 cm-3. 

The EPIR contactless microwave measurements on CdTe gave lifetimes >5 μs. From later 

measurements it is clear that those measurements did not measure the CdZnTe minority carrier 

recombination lifetimes; probably they measured trap lifetimes. The EPIR photoconductive 

decay measurements gave varying results, from <3 ns for samples with unpassivated surfaces up

to 1.3 μs for CdTe for the best CdS-passivated CdTe sample and 260 ns for the best CdSpassivated CdZnTe sample (see Figure 36). The results depended strongly on the type and 

thickness of the passivant because the lateral surface current was being measured, and the 

surface recombination velocity was very high in the absence of good passivation. Figure 36 

shows the photoconductive decay measured by EPIR for the CdTe and CdZnTe layers with the 

best CdS passivation and with p ≈ 1015 cm-3. 

Figure 34. Photoconductive-decay minority carrier lifetimes of unintentionally p-doped (~1015 cm -

3

) CdTe and CdZnTe epitaxial films with the best CdS passivation. 

Because the appropriate minority carrier lifetime for the buried absorber region of a solar cell is 

that of electrons diffusing through the absorber layer toward the top emitter layer, never in 

contact with the surface, not that of a lateral electron surface current, it will be independent of 

the effects of surface recombination, and should therefore be longer than that of the electrons 

moving laterally along the layer surface in a photoconductive decay measurement. Therefore, we 
35

also determined a minority carrier lifetime by analyzing the light and dark I-V curves of some 

CdZnTe solar cells. The devices had an intrinsic electron concentration ni ≈ 4 × 105

 cm-3, an 

acceptor contribution na ≈ 1014cm-3 in the absorber region and a donor concentration nd ≈ 1017

cm-3 in the emitter region. The fits to the I-V curves of multiple cells yielded lifetimes τ > 100 ns. 

A program was written to fit the following equations: 

, (3)

, (4) 

and 

. (5) 

The generation-recombination current density J0GR and the diffusion current density J0diff were 

determined from the fittings. In most cases J0diff was negligible, and τ was determined from the 

equation: 

, (6) 

with the diffusion length wd estimated to be 4 μm. The results for three devices are shown in 

Table 9. 

Table 9. Values of the minority carrier lifetime, shunt resistance Rsh, generation-recombination 

current, series resistance and open-circuit voltage obtained from three solar cells.

device Light tau (ns) Rsh Jogr Rs Voc 

57Q10 Light 400 1,050 5.6E-11 240 874 

61FF Light 170 1,390 1.4E-10 180 802 

61L Dark 170 280,000 1.4E-10 6,690 n/a 

61FF Dark 160 1E6 1.5E-10 7,600 n/a 

The time-resolved photoluminescence measurements performed at NREL gave picosecond 

lifetimes that are clearly inconsistent with our I-V curves and in particular with the high Voc

value found for our best cell. They are not understood, and it has been agreed with NREL that 
36

they may be disregarded. Just as the EPIR photoconductive decay measurements give results that 

depended strongly on the sample passivation. Although the longest lifetime measured at NREL 

was only 50 ns, given the extremely strong dependence of the measured lifetime on surface 

effects, the difference between that result and the >100 ns result found by EPIR on the same 

sample could arise from differences in the experimental configuration. In any case, it has been 

agreed that for the reasons discussed above photoconductive decay lifetime measurements do not 

give results appropriate for considering electron lifetimes in the buried absorber regions of solar 

cells.

Also, the minority carrier lifetime of a ZnTe passivated undoped single crystal CdTe sample 

grown on a Si substrate was measured using alpha-particle-induced transient spectroscopy at 

Fisk University. In this technique, an alpha particle is accelerated towards the CdTe/Si layer 

stack. The energetic particles excite carriers in the layer stack. A bias voltage that accelerates 

electrons away from the surface is applied across the sample during the excitation process, 

minimizing surface recombination effects. The carrier lifetime(s) are extracted from the transient 

response time of the pre-amplifier signal. The lifetime response of our sample is plotted in Figure 

35. Different characteristic lifetimes from the sample including the Si substrate lifetime, the 

CdTe trap lifetimes and the CdTe minority carrier lifetime can be extracted by analyzing the 

alpha particle induced carrier decay curve. It is believed that the ~ 25 μs lifetime portion of the 

curve is from the Si substrates, the ~ 1 and 5 μs decays are typical CdTe trap lifetimes and the 

340 ns is the actual minority carrier lifetime of the single crystal CdTe sample. The 340 ns result 

is consistent with the range of values for τ that we obtained from fitting solar cell I-V curves. 

Figure 35. Lifetime response of a single crystal CdTe/Si sample measured using alpha particle 

excitation.
37

Multiple samples were delivered to NREL for lifetime measurements. The extracted sample 

lifetimes were very low (in the picosecond range) for time-resolved photoluminescence 

measurements. This was assumed to be due to rapid absorption of the incident laser beam and 

subsequent rapid surface recombination effects due to insufficient passivation, rather than a true 

poor bulk lifetime. Photoconductive decay measurements were then initiated at NREL, again 

with poor extracted lifetimes. Due to the uncertainty in the lifetime measurement methods, and 

the large range of extracted lifetimes based upon different measurement techniques, the effort to 

extract the true bulk lifetime on CZT layers is expected to continue in future joint EPIR and 

NREL collaboration activities. 

5.2 N-type Iodine Doping of CdZnTe

EPIR attached a CdI2 cell to the Opus MBE chamber, which enabled us to dope CZT layers with 

iodine to render the material n-type. However multiple attempted iodine n-type activation 

anneals were unsuccessful. Therefore, it is highly probable that the iodine is incorporated on 

cation and/or interstitial sites, as is the well-studied case for As p-dopant atoms in HgCdTe. As 

in HgCdTe, the cation vacancy concentration is orders of magnitude higher than the Te vacancy 

concentration, so that at the MBE growth temperature much more of the iodine is incorporated 

on cation sites than on Te sites, despite the lower energy for iodine on Te sites than on cation 

sites. If that is true, the iodine could be activated by a short anneal at ~425°C, followed by a 

longer cation vacancy filling anneal under a Cd and/or Zn overpressure. 

As a proposed solution alternative solution, 50 angstroms of indium was sputtered on the surface 

at an elevated temperature to simultaneously anneal the layer, encapsulate it and indiffuse 

indium. ITO was immediately sputtered on top of the indium film as a front contact (see Figure 

36). Figure 36 shows a schematic of the completed cell structure.

Figure 36. Schematic of the solar cell structure using iodine for doping the emitter layer.

This process produced encouraging results, even though neither in situ iodine incorporation nor 

indium indiffusion alone produced the desired doping. Although the doping mechanism is still 

unclear, we conjecture that indiffused indium in the absence of iodine does not displace a 

significant number of Cd or Zn atoms from cation sites, but that it does displace the iodine from 

cation sites. If that is true, the resultant n-doping is indium doping with the iodine acting as a 

catalyst and would allow controlled n-doping with a sharp cutoff controlled by the point at which 

the MBE iodine incorporation is begun during growth. The iodine SIMS profile and I-V 

relationship are shown below for layer W10057 in Figure 37 and Figure 38. This is the first 
38

iodine-doped layer that was processed into the device structure shown above. This yielded the 

best device performance obtained since the original best cell described in Section 3 above, 

although we have since obtained better cell efficiencies.

Figure 37. SIMS profile of the iodine concentration of layer W10057 in situ doped with iodine.

Courtesy of Evans Analytical Group (EAG).

Figure 38. I-V curve from a solar cell fabricated from layer W10057, the iodine profile of which is 

shown in Figure 37. 

Similar processing also was done on layer W10061; this layer had a different iodine profile (see 

Figure 39), but also produced open circuit voltages > 800 mV. The iodine profile is shown in 

Figure 39. 
39

Figure 39. SIMS profile of the iodine concentration of sample W10061 in situ doped with iodine.

Courtesy of Evans Analytical Group (EAG).

Figure 40 gives the short-circuit current for cells fabricated from wafers with different dopings 

and junction depths and the wafer-averages of the short-circuit currents. The current density was 

found to be approximately inversely proportional to the junction depth, as is expected for very 

low current densities: this responsiveness to the change in junction depth is encouraging. 

Figure 40. The short-circuit current for cells fabricated from wafers with different dopings and 

junction depths and the wafer-averages of the short-circuit currents.

The performance of the in-situ indium doped layers indicates that it is either the combination of 

iodine and indium that is boosting cell performance or possibly an MBE-chamber effect. More 
40

experimentation is required to determine what is causing the difference in performance. In 

particular, measurements of the carrier concentration in the n-doped emitter layer would be very 

useful. 

The characteristics of ten cells fabricated from the additional in situ iodine doped layers, along 

with the targeted doping profiles, are given in Table 10. The characteristics of eight cells 

fabricated from the iodine-free in situ indium doped layers, along with the targeted doping 

profiles are given in Table 11. The I-V curve of the best performing cell, W10074CC, which 

gave a Voc of 885 mV is shown in Figure 41. 

Table 10. Characteristics of ten cells fabricated from the additional in situ iodine doped layers,

along with the targeted doping profiles.

sample 

iodine doping 

target (cm-3) 

Targeted 

junction 

depth 

(um) Voc Jsc FF Rsh Rs 

74J 1.E+20 0.2 854 3.5 35.4 1032 126

74CC 1.E+20 0.2 858 3.9 39.6 944 68

73U 1.E+18 0.4 769 0.9 30.4 2169 335

73C 1.E+18 0.4 798 1.98 34.7 1545 190

61P 2.E+19 1 850 1.47 42.3 1754 171

61T 2.E+19 1 813 1.07 42.2 2346 185

74X 1.E+20 0.2 852 3.4 33 1254 107

74E 1.E+20 0.2 850 3.8 36.9 958 89

73B 1.E+18 0.4 843 2.5 35 1309 169

61W 2.E+19 1 820 1.1 41.9 1622 190
41

Table 11. Characteristics of eight cells fabricated from the iodine-free in situ indium doped layers,

along with the targeted doping profiles.

sample 

indium

doping 

target (cm-3) 

junction 

depth 

(um) Voc Jsc FF Rsh Rs 

118E 1.E+20 0.2 636 0.4 29.6 2395 47

118V 1.E+20 0.2 686 0.45 35.4 2875 42

84 O 1.00E+18 0.5 661 0.41 32.5 2635 44

84 R 1.00E+18 0.5 661 0.41 32.5 2635 44

84P 1.00E+18 0.5 622.33 0.57 30 1751.5 54.17

84F 1.00E+18 0.5 698.33 0.72 33.83 2068.33 73.5

118 M 1.E+20 0.2 159 0.51 26.33 781 9.13

118K 1.E+20 0.2 610.6 0.6 29.6 1213.4 13.75

Figure 41. Room temperature, light I-V curve of a cell from sample W10074CC.
42

6 Program Summary 

6.1 Goals and Deliverables

During the course of this program, significant progress was made to further the understanding of 

the growth, doping and contacting of MBE-grown CdZnTe material and the fabrication of solar 

cells from that material. The specific goals and deliverables of the program were as follows: 

1. MBE growth and delivery of single-crystal epitaxial CdTe/Si with an X-ray doublecrystal rocking curve full-width-at-half-maximum (DCRC FWHM) < 200 arcsec and of 

single-crystal epitaxial CdZnTe/Si with sufficiently good crystallinity for the fabrication 

of high efficiency solar cells (minority carrier recombination lifetimes 100 ns or longer 

for unintentionally doped samples),

2. N-type doping and delivery of CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si with n > 3 × 1016, 

3. P-type doping and delivery of CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si with p > 3 × 1015, and

4. Achievement and delivery of an extrinsically p-doped CdTe/Si or CdZnTe/Si sample 

with a minority carrier lifetime τ ≥ 100 ns.

As discussed in detail in the previous sections, each of these program goals was accomplished 

and delivered on schedule. A CdTe or CdZnTe single-junction solar cell with efficiency ≥15%, 

also was achieved. EPIR fabricated a CdZnTe single-junction solar cell with 16.4% efficiency 

(as measured in-house) from single-crystal CdZnTe with a 1.80 eV bandgap that was grown on 

Si by MBE. We now are conducting a thorough investigation of the solar cell doping and 

contacting with the aim of gaining the detailed understanding that will permit us to fabricate high 

efficiency single-junction solar cells consistently and reproducibly. We expect to be able to 

consistently fabricate single-junction cells with efficiencies >15% under one sun within the next 

year and to be able to attain efficiencies >20% under one sun shortly thereafter. The results of 

this program already represent a tremendous increase in the knowledge base for fabrication of 

single crystal MBE grown CdZnTe-based solar cells.

6.2 Successes of the Program

Although many challenges remain to be overcome before we are able to consistently fabricate 

single-junction CdZnTe solar cells with efficiencies >15%, we achieved several notable 

successes:

1. We demonstrated the consistent MBE growth of CdTe/Si and CdZnTe/Si having high 

crystalline quality despite very large lattice mismatches.

2. The CdTe/Si and CdZnTe/Si grown consistently showed state-of-the-art electron 

mobilities and good hole mobilities showing promise of reaching the state of the art. 

3. The bulk minority carrier recombination lifetimes of unintentionally p-doped CdTe and 

CdZnTe grown by MBE on Si were demonstrated to be consistently of order 100 ns or 

longer, from a factor of three up to an order of magnitude longer than required to obtain a 

state-of-the-art open-circuit voltage.

4. The desired n- and p-doping levels were achieved.

5. Solar cell series specific resistances <10 Ω-cm2 were achieved.
43

6. A single-junction solar cell having a state-of-the-art value of Voc and a 16.4% efficiency 

was fabricated from CdZnTe having a 1.80 eV bandgap, ideal for the top junction in a 

tandem cell with a Si bottom junction. 

The first three of these successes are especially noteworthy because they mark the achievement 

of consistent success, which is necessary for product development and commercial success. 

6.3 Challenges to Be Met

The primary challenges encountered in this program were with reproducibility. The currently 

implemented contacting to the n-type emitter is poor and unrepeatable. In particular, the contact 

between our present ITO and present n-type emitter layers is non-ohmic with a barrier, the 

specific resistance of our In/n-CdZnTe contacts is high, and we have been unable to deposit a 

fine closely spaced In grid on the CdZnTe without coalescence of the In.

Although these ongoing challenges are not trivial, progress is being made in overcoming them. 

Reproducible activation levels are being increased, the contact resistance is being decreased, and 

these issues will be pursued vigorously under the ongoing collaborative R&D arrangement 

between EPIR and NREL. 

6.4 Outlook for the Future

EPIR expects to be able to overcome the challenges listed above and to be able to consistently 

produce single-crystal CdZnTe single-junction solar cells with ~22% one-sun efficiencies within 

the next year and to be able to consistently produce CdZnTe/Si tandem solar cells not long 

thereafter. 
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1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

May 2011

2. REPORT TYPE

Subcontract Report

3. DATES COVERED (From - To)

11/19/09 - 1/31/11

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

High Efficiency Single Crystal CdTe Solar Cells

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

DE-AC36-08-GO28308

5b. GRANT NUMBER

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

6. AUTHOR(S)

Michael Carmody and Angelo Gilmore 

5d. PROJECT NUMBER

NREL/SR-5200-51380

5e. TASK NUMBER

PV10.1199

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

EPIR Technologies

590 Territorial Dr., Bolingbrook, IL 60440

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

NEU-0-99010-12

9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Blvd.

Golden, CO 80401-3393

10. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)

NREL

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AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

NREL/SR-5200-51380

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National Technical Information Service

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13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

NREL Technical Monitor: Brian Keyes

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words)

The goal of the program was to develop single crystal CdTe-based top cells grown on Si solar cells as a platform for 

the subsequent manufacture of high efficiency tandem cells for CPV applications. The keys to both the single junction 

and the tandem junction cell architectures are the ability to grow high quality single-crystal CdTe and CdZnTe layers 

on p-type Si substrates, to dope the CdTe and CdZnTe controllably, both n and p-type, and to make low resistance 

ohmic front and back contacts. EPIR demonstrated the consistent MBE growth of CdTe/Si and CdZnTe/Si having 

high crystalline quality despite very large lattice mismatches; epitaxial CdTe/Si and CdZnTe/Si consistently showed 

state-of-the-art electron mobilities and good hole mobilities; bulk minority carrier recombination lifetimes of 

unintentionally p-doped CdTe and CdZnTe grown by MBE on Si were demonstrated to be consistently of order 100 

ns or longer; desired n- and p-doping levels were achieved; solar cell series specific resistances <10 Ω-cm2 were 

achieved; A single-junction solar cell having a state-of-the-art value of Voc and a unverified 16.4% efficiency was 

fabricated from CdZnTe having a 1.80 eV bandgap, ideal for the top junction in a tandem cell with a Si bottom 

junction.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Photovoltaic; CdTe; Epitaxial; Single Crystal

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