A national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Innovation for Our Energy Future 

Subcontract Report 

NREL/SR-520-43954 

September 2008 

Sputtered II-VI Alloys and 

Structures for Tandem PV

Final Subcontract Report 

9 December 2003 – 30 July 2007 

A.D. Compaan, R. Collins, V.G. Karpov, and 

D. Giolando 

University of Toledo 

Toledo, Ohio 

NREL is operated by Midwest Research Institute ● Battelle Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337 
Sputtered II-VI Alloys and 

Structures for Tandem PV

Final Subcontract Report 

9 December 2003 – 30 July 2007 

A.D. Compaan, R. Collins, V.G. Karpov, and 

D. Giolando 

University of Toledo 

Toledo, Ohio 

NREL Technical Monitor: Fannie Eddy 

Prepared under Subcontract No. XAT-4-33624-06 

Subcontract Report 

NREL/SR-520-43954 

August 2008 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov 

Operated for the U.S. Department of Energy 

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

by Midwest Research Institute • Battelle 

Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337
This publication was reproduced from the best available copy 

submitted by the subcontractor and received no editorial review at NREL

NOTICE 

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States 

government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, 

makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, 

completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents 

that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial 

product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily 

constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any 

agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect 

those of the United States government or any agency thereof. 

Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/bridge

Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy 

and its contractors, in paper, from: 

U.S. Department of Energy 

Office of Scientific and Technical Information 

P.O. Box 62 

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 

phone: 865.576.8401 

fax: 865.576.5728 

email: mailto:reports@adonis.osti.gov

Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

phone: 800.553.6847 

fax: 703.605.6900 

email: orders@ntis.fedworld.gov

online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/ordering.htm

Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste
Goals and Objectives 

The major objectives of this subcontract are to explore, prepare and test the candidate 

materials of II-VI group for top cells in two-junction devices with either monolithic two-terminal 

or mechanically stacked four-terminal structures. We have developed two candidate alloys 

CdMnTe and CdMgTe by RF sputtering. The critical chloride treatments and related material 

studies revealed that CdMgTe is superior to CdMnTe. In the second year of this project much of 

the efforts were to develop the CdMgTe alloy. The goal of these efforts is to optimize the film 

deposition conditions, chloride treatments and identify the efficiency limiting factors in a single 

junction CdTe/CdS device, which can lead to the goal of 25% efficient tandem structures 

fabricated using polycrystalline thin films. 

This subcontract consists of three one-year phases incrementally funded. The present 

report is the final report covering all three Phases. This report will elaborate on Phase Three and 

provide appropriate summaries of the first two Phases. During Phase Three of the subcontract, 

the research work was divided into five task areas covering different aspects of a tandem cell. 

The fist task area covered sputtered II-VI materials and cells and incorporated Tasks 1 (Yr1), 6 

(Yr 2), and 11 (Yr 3). The second task area covered transparent contact/window layers and 

recombination junctions and incorporated Tasks 2, 7, and 12 (Yr 3). The third task area covered 

interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling and included Tasks 3, 8, and 13 

(Yr 3). Task area four covered mercury cadmium telluride and bottom cells and included Tasks 

4, 9, and 14 (Yr 3). Finally task area five covered characterization and stress studies and 

included Tasks 5, 10, and 15 (Yr 3). 

iii
Executive Summary/Major Accomplishments 

The following are the major accomplishments during the 44 months of this subcontract:

Tasks 1, 6, 11 Sputtered top cell II-VI alloy materials and cells

Task 1: Sputtered top cell II-VI alloys (Phase I)

• Post deposition treatment conditions for cells with thinner CdTe layer (< 1 μm thick) 

were optimized. An efficiency of 11.8% was achieved using only a 0.87 μm CdTe layer 

in place of our standard 2.3 μm. 

• Real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) has been installed for the first time onto a 

two-chamber magnetron sputtering system for the fabrication of polycrystalline II-VI 

solar cells incorporating CdTe and related ternary alloys. In addition to in-depth optical 

analyses of the solar-cell materials and their interfaces, RTSE can also be used for routine 

tasks such as substrate temperature and deposition rate calibrations. 

• In initial RTSE studies of the growth of CdTe on test c-Si wafers and on superstrate Mo 

substrates, the evolution of film microstructure has been characterized. As-deposited 

CdTe films exhibit density deficits as high as 10% relative to the single crystal. Such 

density deficits depend sensitively on the thickness during growth and on the nature of 

the substrate. In future work, the effect of void fraction profiles in CdS and CdTe on 

post-deposition processing and on ultimate device performance will be evaluated. 

• In initial RTSE studies of CdTe and CdS on test c-Si wafers, the real and imaginary parts 

of the dielectric functions of the films have been extracted from measurements performed 

in real time. Although the fundamental absorption onset in CdTe is sharp and not very 

sensitive to thickness and fabrication procedure, the widths and amplitudes of the high 

energy critical point transitions (E1, E1+Δ1 and E2) vary considerably, and thus are 

expected to provide information on defect density, grain size, and grain orientation in 

future studies. 

• High quality films of CdMnTe were obtained from a sintered target composed of 13% 

MnTe and 87% CdTe. Two different types of post-deposition chloride treatments were 

done, and results were analyzed using a variety of characterization techniques. The 

composition of Mn in the films is reduced during chloride treatment, and hence the 

bandgap of the films shifted towards CdTe. Although some improvement in cell 

performance was observed due to Cu doping, the VOC, JSC and FF were still very low in 

comparison to pure CdTe cells. 

Task 6: Sputtered top cell II-VI alloys (Phase II)

1. Baseline conditions for the sputter deposition of the alloy Cd1-xMgxTe have been 

established. 

• Deposition temperature higher than 250 o

C is needed to obtain polycrystalline films. 

Films deposited below 250 o

C are mixtures of amorphous and polycrystalline phases. 

• Film deposition rate is lower for CdMgTe than for CdTe. The deposition rate was about 

0.45 μm/hour for RF power of 50W with deposition temperatures in the range between 

275 to 300 o

C. Ar was the sputter gas, and the deposition pressure was between 5 and 20 

mTorr. 

iv
2. Polycrystalline thin films of Cd0.95Mg0.05Te were sputter deposited and the 

structural, optical and morphological properties were studied. 

• XRD studies showed polycrystalline films with strong preference for (111) plane. 

• Films deposited above 250 oC have sharp band edge absorption consistent with a direct 

band gap. 

• The band gap of the film was estimated as 1.58 eV from the transmittance spectra. 

• The Mg content of the film was estimated as a function of band gap, the obtained value of 

5% is comparable with the average value (8 ±2 %) obtained from energy dispersive x-ray 

spectroscopy (EDS) measurements. 

• AFM studies revealed a compact and smooth surface. The average peak-to-valley depth 

of a 2 μm thick film was about 60 nm. 

• Raman spectra exhibit a sharp (FWHM=9 cm-1) and symmetric band corresponding to the 

CdTe-like LO modes indicating a good polycrystalline nature of the film. 

• The influence of the sputter gas (Ar and Ne) on the deposition and film growth was 

analyzed. Ne sputtered films show a slight increase in band gap (0.01eV), which can be 

due to an increase in the sputter yield of Mg relative to Cd when Ne is used. This is 

possible since the atomic mass of Ne is close to that of Mg. However the film deposition 

rate is almost 25% lower with Ne than with Ar gas. 

• AFM studies showed identical surface features for both Ar and Ne sputtered films. 

• Hot probe tests showed that the as-deposited films are always p-type. 

3. Post deposition cadmium chloride vapor treatment of the alloy Cd0.95Mg0.05Te was 

studied and the baseline conditions for film stability were established. 

• Conditions for the cadmium chloride annealing treatments were identified as: 

temperature- 387 oC, annealing duration- 5 to 10 minutes, separation between film and 

cadmium chloride source- 1 mm, dry air flow rate- 60 sccm. 

• Longer annealing durations affect the stability of the films. Annealing durations greater 

than 10 minutes resulted in a decrease in band gap, approaching the value of CdTe. The 

mechanical stability of the film is unaffected by annealing duration and the material loss 

is negligible. 

• AFM and XRD analyses show evidence of grain growth and recrystallization. The film 

crystallographic orientation became more random with annealing duration. 

4. Prototype top cells 

• A prototype top sub-cell of the configuration TEC-7/CdS/Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/Cu/Au has 

shown promising photovoltaic activity. We obtained the following device parameters 

under 1 sun illumination: Voc=630 mV, Jsc=17 mA/cm2

, FF=36%, efficiency= 3.8%. The 

quantum efficiency of the device has better blue response compared to CdTe/CdS 

devices. 

• We have developed a CdTe/CdS cell with thin CdTe (0.87 μm) for possible application 

as a top sub-cell. This device showed 11.8% efficiency with Voc=772 mV, Jsc=22 

mA/cm2

, and FF=69.7%. 

v
Task 11: Sputtered top cell II-VI alloys, including graded structures (PhaseIII) 

• We have used optical emission spectroscopy of the plasma to relate the emission 

intensities from Mg I, Cd II, Te II, and Ar I as a function of argon pressure and RF power 

to the characteristics of the films including strain, Mg composition and band gap. 

• X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy studies of as-grown films show decreasing 

grain size as RF power increases and as Ar pressure decreases. Simultaneously the 

crystallographic morphology transitions from cubic to hexagonal. 

• Two to five minutes of CdCl2 activation near 387 oC improves the device performance 

but our device efficiency has not exceeded 4% at AM1.5, but the subgap transmission (λ

≥750 nm) is about 75% for 0.66 μm thick CdMgTe. 

• We find the most promising approach to a polycrystalline thin-film tandem is to use 

extremely thin (~0.3μm) CdTe together with a CIS bottom cell in a four-terminal 

configuration or together with a HgCdTe bottom cell in a two-terminal configuration. 

 

Tasks 2, 7, 12 Transparent contacts/window layers & recombination junctions

Task 2: Transparent contacts/window layers and recombination junctions (Phase I)

• Reactive sputtering deposition conditions were optimized to obtain a ZnO HRT layer 

from a conducting ZnO:Al target. The cells prepared using this ZnO HRT and thinner 

CdS layer showed increased VOC, JSC and efficiency in comparison to cells without the 

HRT layer but with the same CdS thickness. 

• ZnTe:Cu films were sputter-deposited and characterized for electrical and optical 

properties to be used as the p-type layer of a recombination junction. Post-deposition 

diffusion conditions were optimized after deposition on a sputtered CdS/CdTe top cell. 

• Monolithic two-terminal tandem cells were fabricated using a CdS/CdTe top cell and a 

CdS/HgCdTe bottom cell. Two types of recombination junctions, ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al and 

ZnTe:Cu/ZnO:Al, were used and tandem cell performances were compared. The ZnTe:N 

based recombination junction showed better results, possibly due to some Cu outdiffusion from the ZnTe:Cu-based recombination junction into the top cell or bottom cell 

junction during fabrication of the bottom CdS/HgCdTe cell. 

Task 7: Transparent contacts/window layers and recombination junctions (Phase II)

• Comparison studies were made of ZnO:Al, ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al, ITO, and ZnTe:N/ITO as 

back contact structures to superstrate CdTe top cells. We found the best performance 

with the ZnTe:N/ITO bilayer. 

• The best efficiency with this ZnTe:N/ITO transparent back contact was 9.1% with most 

of the difference from our typical 12% efficiency using Cu/Au contacts due to poor 

voltage (VOC = 643 mV). No copper was used in this contact. 

Task 12: Transparent contacts/window layers and recombination junctions (Phase III)

• We adjusted the resistivity of RF sputtered ITO over more than two decades by 

controlling the deposition temperature and found that the best transparent back contact 

performance was achieved at intermediate conductivity (σ ≈ 102 S/cm) with a 0.5 μm 

thick film having a sheet resistance of 200 Ω/□. 

vi
Tasks 3, 8, 13 Interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling 

Task 3: Interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling (Phase I)

• A new physical mechanism of current flow in polycrystalline interconnects is proposed 

and analytically described, based on hopping electron transport through defect chains of 

abnormally low resistance (pinholes). The integral electrical parameters of such 

interconnects are estimated for the materials used in our tandem cells. 

• Interconnect-related power loss is estimated to be surprisingly low (on the order of 1 

relative percent) for polycrystalline interconnects of considerable thickness (100 nm). 

This new understanding predicts reproducible and robust polycrystalline interconnects. 

Task 8: Interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling (Phase II)

• A prototype tunneling junction structure of rf-sputtered CdTe sandwiched between two 

Cr metal electrodes was studied in the AFM current-sensing mode measuring the local 

current-voltage characteristics and electric current variations with time under fixed 

voltage. 

• The observed lateral nonuniformity in the AFM current-voltage characteristics and 

chaotic temporal variations of the AFM current did not correlate with the surface 

topography and can be interpreted in the terms of defect assisted tunneling through timedependent defect pathways. 

• The latter transport mechanism underlies the possibility of efficient low-resistance 

interconnects in submicron thickness range readily made by the existing polycrystalline 

film deposition techniques. This range of thickness goes far beyond that of standard 

tunnel junctions (thinner than 0.01 micron) and opens new venues in the tandem junction 

interconnect technology. 

Task 13: Interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling (Phase III) 

• Optical Modeling of II-VI Tandem Device Performance 

Tasks 4, 9, 14 HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact 

Task 4: HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact (Phase I)

This task was not active during Phase I.

 

Task 9: HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact (Phase II)

• A commercially prepared target was obtained with composition Hg40Cd60Te and several 

devices were prepared. CdCl2 treatments appear to work well and several cells were 

prepared with back contacts of Mo, Au, and Cr, both with 2-3 nm of Cu and without a Cu 

interlayer. 

• Devices prepared with Cu/Au back contacts were best and showed QE response to 1150 

nm. However, the devices had poor current collection and fill factors. 

vii
Task 14: HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact (Phase III)

• With careful choice of deposition temperature and target alloy composition the film 

quality was improved. We have fabricated CdS/CdTe/HgCdTe cells with efficiencies up 

to 6.7% and spectral response out to ~1100 nm. Best results were obtained with a thin 

(~0.2 μm) CdTe buffer layer at the junction with CdS. This suggests that an alloy 

compositional gradient could be effective in achieving higher efficiencies. 

• Light soak studies of unencapsulated CdS/HgCdTe cells in summer air (typically 60% 

RH) indicate good stability for 1000 hours of continuous light soak at one-sun 

illumination. 

Tasks 5, 10, 15 Characterization and stress studies

Task 5: Characterization and Stress Studies (Phase I) 

• Ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) has been applied in initial studies to determine 

the optical properties of the component materials of CdTe based solar cells. These results 

are necessary for a full accounting of optical losses and gains in single junction and 

tandem solar cells; thus, they are also necessary in the optimization of advanced optical 

designs to improve the efficiency of the cells. In the initial studies, the optical properties 

of soda lime glass and the component layers of TEC-15 glass have been parameterized. 

Task 10: Characterization and Stress Studies (Phase II) 

• Work continued on building up a database of optical properties of the CdS, CdTe and 

alloy materials. 

• A multilayer model with all the optical properties and surface roughness has been used to 

fit reflectance data and quantum efficiency data. 

Task 15: Characterization and Stress Studies (Phase III) 

• Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of II-VI Alloy Films 

• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of CdMgTe (Clemens Heske group at UNLV) 

• Thin CdTe as a top cell (filter) over a Si wafer (Rohatgi/Yelundur, Georgia Tech) 

viii
Table of Contents 

Summary .................................................................................................................... iii 

Executive Summary / Major Accomplishments ............................................................................ iv 

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... ix 

List of Figures .................................................................................................................... xi 

List of Tables .................................................................................................................. xiii 

1. Introduction

 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................1 

 1.2 Objectives of this subcontract .......................................................................................1 

1.3 Technical Approach ......................................................................................................1

2. Sputtered II-VI alloys for top cells

2.1 Sputter deposition of CdMgTe films .............................................................................3 

2.1.1 Optical emission spectroscopy as an on-line monitor 

2.1.2 Growth rate 

2.1.3 Lattice structure, optical absorption and composition vs. RF power 

2.2 Post-deposition treatments of CdMgTe films ...............................................................7 

2.3 CdMgTe/CdS device .....................................................................................................8 

2.4 Ultra/thin sputtered CdTe for top cell structures ........................................................10 

3. Transparent contacts/window layers and recombination junctions 

 3.1 Effect of deposition temperature on ITO properties ...................................................13 

3.2 Performance of 2.3 μm cells with different back contacts ..........................................14 

3.3 Cells with ZnTe:N/ITO back contact and reduced CdTe thickness ...........................15 

 

4. Interconnect Studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling 

4.1. Optical Modeling of II-VI Tandem Device Performance .........................................17 

 4.1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................17 

 4.1.2 Results and Discussion .....................................................................................17 

 4.1.2.1 Optical Properties of II-VI Tandem Cell Components ............................17 

 4.1.2.2 Optical Modeling of II-VI Tandem Solar Cells .......................................20 

 4.1.3 Conclusion .........................................................................................................23 

5. HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact 

 5.1 HgCdTe cell fabrication ..............................................................................................24 

 5.2 Back contacts for the bottom cell................................................................................24 

 5.3 Light soak stressing of CdHgTe .................................................................................26 

6. Characterization and Stress Studies

 6.1 Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of II-VI Alloy Films .......................27 

 6.1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................27 

 6.1.2 Top cell material candidates: Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe ............................27 

 6.1.2.1 Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe preparation ...........................................27 

 6.1.2.2 Data analysis and results .....................................................................28 

 6.1.3 Bottom cell material: HgxCd1-xTe ......................................................................37 

ix
 6.1.3.1 HgxCd1-xTe films preparation .............................................................37 

 6.1.3.2 Data analysis and results .....................................................................38 

7. Studies with Collaborators

7.1 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of CdMgTe with UNLV ......................................41 

7.2 1.0 μm CdTe as a top cell filter above a Si wafer .......................................................42 

References (Sections 1-7) .............................................................................................................44

8. Publications

8.1 Refereed papers published or in press ........................................................................45 

8.2 Poster or oral presentations published on CDROM or Web site ................................47 

9. Project personnel

9.1 Research professors ....................................................................................................48

9.2 Visiting Research Scholars .........................................................................................48 

9.3 Postdoctoral Associates ..............................................................................................48 

9.4 Graduate students ........................................................................................................48 

9.5 Undergraduate students ...............................................................................................48 

9.6 Technical assistants .....................................................................................................49 

x
List of Figures 

Section 2 

Figure 2.1. The transmittance spectrum of a Cd0.8Mg0.2Te film on glass. ...........................................2 

Figure 2.2. Cd0.95Mg0.05Te film band-gap vs chloride annealing time. ...............................................2 

Figure 2.3. Dependence of sheet resistance on the film deposition temperature .................................3 

Figure 2.4 Images of plasma at 15 mTorr with various RF power. ....................................................4 

Figure 2.5. Sketch of the four transitions studied. .............................................................................4 

Figure 2.6. Thickness dependence of CdMgTe films with R.F. power and Ar pressure. ....................5 

Figure 2.7. XRD spectra of CdMgTe: a) RF power variation b) Ar pressure variation. ....................6 

Figure 2.8. Variation of CdMgTe band gap vs. RF power and Ar pressure. .......................................6 

Figure 2.9. Temperature vs. time profile of the one-inch diameter tube furnace.. .............................7 

Figure 2.10. J-V relationship of a prototype Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS device. ..........................................9 

Figure 2.11. Transmittance spectra of a typical Tec7/CdS/ Cd0.95Mg0.05Te device. ..........................10 

Figure 2.12 Top view of sputtering chamber using tilted CdTe deposition at 45°. ..........................11 

Figure 2.13 CdTe film thickness vs distance from the edge of thinner side. ....................................11 

Figure 2.14 Average and best cell performance as function of CdTe film thickness. ......................12 

Figure 2.15 Quantum efficiency of cells with CdTe thickness below 450 nm. ...............................12 

Section 3 

Figure 3.1 Variation of ITO conductivity with deposition temperature. ..........................................13 

Figure 3.2 J-V curves of CdTe/ZnTe:N/ITO cells. ...........................................................................14 

Figure 3.3 J-V data for cells with 2.3 μm CdTe with n-type ZnO:Al or ITO. .................................15 

Section 4 

Figure 4.1 Dielectric function of as-deposited and CdCl2 treated CdS. ...........................................17 

Figure 4.2 Dielectric function of ZnTe:N film. ................................................................................18 

xi
Figure 4.3. Dielectric function of ZnTe:Cu film...............................................................................19 

Figure 4.4. Optical constants of In2O3:Sn. ........................................................................................19 

Figure 4.5. Short circuit current under current matching conditions versus total active layer 

thickness ........................................................................................................................20 

Figure 4.6. Predicted optical QE and reflectance for a Cd1-xMgxTe (0.6 μm) - HgxCd1-xTe (1.3 

μm) tandem. .....................................................................................................................21 

Figure 4.7. Predicted absorbances in the substrate and non-active layers for a Cd1-xMgxTe (0.6 

μm) - HgxCd1-xTe (1.3 μm) tandem. ................................................................................22 

Figure 4.8. Improvement of the quantum efficiency due to a reduction in ZnTe:Cu thickness. ......22 

 Section 5 

Figure 5.1 J-V curves of two small dot cells with HgCdTe absorber layers as indicated. ............24 

Figure 5.2 External quantum efficiency of the two cells of Figure 5.1. ..........................................25 

Figure 5.3. Results of light soaking HgCdTe cells. ..........................................................................25 

Section 6 

Figure 6.1. Two-terminal tandem cell based on Cd1-xMgxTe and HgxCd1-xTe absorbers. ...............27 

Figure 6.2. Pseudo-dielectric function of RF sputtered CdTe, Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe films.28 

Figure 6.3. Best fit to the second derivative of the pseudo-dielectric function for an as-deposited 

Cd1−xMnxTe film (lines). ..................................................................................................29

Figure 6.4. Pseudo-dielectric function of Cd0.94Mn0.06Te samples after different storage times in 

laboratory ambient. ..........................................................................................................30 

Figure 6.5. Variation of the pseudo-dielectric function of Cd0.94Mn0.06Te with time after 

Br2/methanol etching. ......................................................................................................30 

Figure 6.6. Pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and treated Cd0.94Mn0.06Te samples. .........30 

Figure 6.7. Pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and annealed Cd1-xMgxTe samples. ..........31 

Figure 6.8 Pseudo-dielectric functions for as-deposited and CdCl2-treated Cd1-xMgxTe, CdTe 

and Cd1-xMnxTe films. .....................................................................................................33 

xii
Figure 6.9. Pseudo-dielectric function obtained directly from experimental (ψ, Δ) data. ................35 

Figure 6.10. Best fit analytical dielectric function obtained from the experimental data (CGT42). 35 

Figure 6.11. Pseudo-dielectric function obtained directly from the experimental data (CGT92). ...36 

Figure 6.12 Best fit analytical dielectric function obtained from the experimental data (CGT92) ..37 

Figure 6.13. Band gaps of as-deposited HgxCd1-x Te films. ............................................................38 

Figures 6.14 Dielectric functions for as-deposited HgxCd1-xTe films ..............................................39 

Figure 6.15. Pseudo-dielectric function of as-deposited and CdCl2 treated Hg1-xCdxTe films ........40 

Section 7 

Figure 7.1 XPS spectra of sputtered thin films on commercial tin-oxide coated soda-lime glass. 

The CdS thickness was 130 nm in all cases. ....................................................................41 

Figure 7.2 Low binding energy region of XPS spectra of Figure 7.1. ..............................................42 

Figure 7.3 External spectral quantum efficiency for a Si cell unfiltered (blue), under 1mm ASG 

(red), ZnO:Al-coated ASG (purple), and CdTe/CdS/ZnO:Al/ASG (green). ..............43 

List of Tables 

Section 2 

Table 2.1. Device parametersof Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS top cells ............................................................8 

Table 2.2. The effect of Cu diffusion on the device parameters of the Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS top cell ..9 

 

Section 3 

Table 3.1 Efficiency and second-order metrics for CdTe cells with transparent contacts. ..............15

Section 4 

Table 4.1. Thickness of active layers and short circuit current under current matching conditions 

obtained from optical modeling of tandem II-VI PV devices..........................................20 

Section 6 

Table 6.1. Parameters obtained in the fits to the dielectric functions of Figure 6.8. ........................34 

Table 6.2. Critical point energies and E0 gap broadening for two Cd1-xMgxTe alloys from 

spectroscopic ellipsometry. ..............................................................................................37 

Section 7

Table 7.1 Si cell response uncovered and with three different filters structures. ............................42 

xiii
1 Introduction 

1.1 Background

The purpose of this subcontract is to: 1) develop low-temperature deposition methods for 

polycrystalline thin-film materials and structures that have the potential to produce tandem cells 

reaching 25% efficiency at AM1.5 while using processes that are compatible with a bottom cell 

of the chalcopyrite (e.g., CIS or CIGS) structure, 2) develop in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry 

for growth diagnostics and deposition control, as well as ex situ characterization using a variety 

of techniques, and 3) model nonuniformities in tandem structures. 

This annual report covers the second phase (14 months) of a three-year, NREL High 

Performance PV Phase IB, “High Performance PV—Exploring and Accelerating Ultimate 

Pathways,” subcontract XAT-4-33624-06 with The University of Toledo. 

 

1.2 Objectives of this subcontract 

A primary objective is to optimize low-temperature magnetron sputter deposition and 

post-deposition processing conditions for CdTe-related II-VI polycrystalline thin films. The 

materials emphases are being placed on CdMnTe and CdMgTe for top cells including 

exploration of their suitability for the substrate configuration needed for two-terminal devices 

when CIS is grown first. Low-temperature magnetron sputter deposition is likely to be a prime 

consideration for top cells fabricated on bottom cells such as CIS, which are known to deteriorate 

at elevated temperatures. A ZnO-based high resistivity transparent (HRT) layer was studied for 

use with a thin CdS layer and the CdTe-based layers. Other effort focused on fabricating and 

modeling tunnel/recombination junctions suitable for the II-VI alloy top cell – with a 

chalcopyrite bottom cell. During Phase Two effort was begun on exploring the potential for 

HgCdTe as a bottom cell with CdTe or suitable alloy as the top cell in a superstrate structure. In 

situ spectroscopic ellipsometry is being pursued as a tool for in situ deposition control and ex situ

film characterization. 

1.3 Technical approach

The major part of the work under this subcontract is divided into five tasks: (1) 

development of II-VI alloy materials (CdMgTe) and the optimization of thin CdTe layers for 

current matching with the bottom cell, (2) development of improved window/HRT/front contact 

layers and transparent back-contact/recombination junctions, (3) theoretical and modeling studies 

of tandem cell interconnects and modeling of tandem device with non-ideal, spatially 

nonuniform interconnects, (4) development of a superstrate-type bottom cell based on HgCdTe 

suitably matched to a II-VI top cell and identification of materials for low-resistance back 

contacts, and (5) characterization and stress studies, which include ex situ spectroscopic 

ellipsometry (SE) studies on the temperature dependence of the optical properties, development 

of a database for optical modeling of polycrystalline thin-film tandem cells. 

1
2 Sputtered II-VI alloys for top cells (Task 11)

2.1. Sputter deposition of CdMgTe films 

 During Phase II, we studied the properties and chloride treatment characteristics of 

CdMgTe films and devices prepared from a sputter target with 20% MgTe by weight. In Phase 

III, additional effort was placed on films sputtered from a 40% MgTe target by weight (60% 

CdTe by weight). Results have been presented in the Q1 and Q2 reports. Some highlights are 

reviewed here. 

 We found that the sputtering rate from both of these alloy targets to be much slower than 

from pure CdTe target. The film composition sputtered from the 20% MgTe target was typically 

5% Mg, i.e., Cd0.95Mg0.05Te. From the 40% target, the as-deposited composition was typically 

19±2%. The sputtered films were smooth and had well-behaved x-ray diffraction and optical 

absorption (see Figure 2.1.) but treatment in chloride vapors was very difficult (see Figure 2.2.) 

60

80

100

0 5 10 15 20

1.45

1.50

1.55

CGT 79

CL 387, air

Eg (eV)

Chloride annealing time (min.)

Figure 2.2. Cd0.95Mg0.05Te film 

band-gap vs chloride annealing 

time at 387 o

C in dry air. The 

film thickness was 0.4 μm. 

600 900 1200 1500 1800

0

20

40

1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2

0.0

5.0x109

1.0x1010

1.5x1010

CGT 85

(αhν)

2

hν (eV)

T %

λ (nm)

CGT 85

Figure 2.1. The 

transmittance spectrum of 

a Cd0.8Mg0.2Te film 

deposited on glass 

substrate at 275 o

C, the 

inset is the vs. 2 hυα )(

hυ plot showing the band 

gap of the alloy material 

as 1.85 eV. 

2
As seen in Figure 2.2, the films would not tolerate more than about 10 minutes in 

chloride vapors when oxygen was also present. This is typical for post-deposition treatment for 

CdTe films. The x = 20% films (Eg ≈ 1.85 eV) were even more sensitive to oxygen and were 

limited to about 3 minutes at 387 oC in dry air (see Figure 2.3.). Undoubtedly this is due to 

oxidation of the Mg; however, chloride treatments with the presence of some oxygen did not 

yield improvements to the photovoltaic performance. Therefore we found that adjusting the time 

and temperature to be within a narrow window and working with the lower magnesium content 

films to be the most productive. 

200 220 240 260 280

0

10

20

30

Resistivity (x106ohm-cm)

Deposition temperature (oC)

Figure 2.3. Dependence of sheet 

resistance on the film deposition 

temperature for films deposited from 

the 20 wt.% MgTe target. 

In our Q2 report we indicated that the best results were obtained if the Mg alloy films 

were vacuum annealed at 400 oC for 30-40 minutes immediately after the deposition at 250 oC 

followed by a subsequent treatment in CdCl2 vapor in dry air. This process applied to the 20% 

Mg films yielded cells with a performance of: VOC=630 mV, JSC=6.2 mA/cm2

, FF=38, η=1.5%. 

The 5% Mg films yielded the best cells and were reported in the Phase II Annual Report with 

η=3.3%. 

At this point, although we have been able to deposit alloy films with up to 20% Mg, and 

having good crystallographic and optical properties, we have not been able to achieve suitable 

electronic properties (carrier lifetime, etc) to yield good solar cell performance, although the 

films are p-type as measured by the hot probe technique. 

2.1.1 Optical emission spectroscopy as on-line probe of CdMgTe sputtering 

Although success was limited in fabricating good devices from CdS/CdMgTe structures, 

we were able to demonstrate the utility of optical emission as a diagnostic of the sputtering 

plasma. This was discussed in Q4 report of Phase III and some illustrations are presented here. 

Digital images of the RF plasma, Figure 2.4, show that the region of light emission 

expands with increasing power. As power increases with pressure held at 15 mTorr , green 

emission begins to dominate. The spectral identification, Figure 2.5, shows that the green 

emission is due to a strong Mg I emission that increases strongly with R.F. power. The intensity 

of each of the selected peaks increases with increase in r.f power with Ar pressure constant (15 

mTorr ). The intensity increase of the Ar signal reflects the increase in electron ionization and 

excitation from the high energy tail of the electron distribution. On the other hand, the Mg I, Cd 

II, and Te II species are sputtered from the target and increase in density with power. In addition 

the increased power also increases the fraction of excited and ionized atoms in the vapor. 

3
(a)

(c)

(b)

(d)

substrate 

target 

Figure 2.4 Images of plasma at 15 mTorr with RF power 

of: a) 15 W, b) 30 W, c) 50 W, and d) 70 W. 

0

5

10

15

20

25

Figure 2.5. A sketch of the four 

transitions studied here with 

upper and lower energy states 

drawn to scale. 

Configuration of energy(eV)

3s4s 

???? 

5s2

5p2(3P)6p 

3s2

3p4.(3P).3d 

3s2 4 3p .(1D).4p 

3s3p 

5p 2

D5/2 

MgII 

516.4 nm

Ar I 

449 nm 

Te II 

465.2 nm

Cd II 

441.6 nm

ΔE = 2.76 eV 

ΔE = 2.66 eV 

ΔE = 2.81 eV

ΔE = 2.39 eV 

4
2.1.2 Growth rate 

The growth rate as a function of R.F. power and as a function of sputter gas pressure are 

shown in Figure 6. The deposition rate increases monotonically with power but is sublinear 

above about 45 W of power into the 50 mm target. Above 30 mTorr excessive scattering in the 

Ar sputter gas decreases the growth rate. 

2.1.3 Lattice structure, optical absorption, and composition vs. sputter parameters

X-ray diffraction studies (see Figure 2.7.) of the CdMgTe films deposited at 300 o

C from 

the 40 wt% MgTe sintered target (MgTe + CdTe) indicate a mixture of cubic and hexagonal 

phases. Phase identification is based on corresponding structures in the binary CdTe. The peaks 

~ 22.54o

 indicate 100(hexagonal) plane of CdTe and ~23.79o indicates 111(cubic) plane of CdTe. 

With film thicknesses of about one micron, other prominent peaks arise from the commercial tin 

oxide substrate: at ~26.54o

 from Sn2O3 (011), ~37.7o from SnO2 (200), ~51.45o from SnO2 (211), 

~54.45o

 from SnO2 (220) and ~65.5o from SnO2 (222). The data indicate an increasing fraction 

of hexagonal phase as the power increases from 30W to 60W with the Ar pressure constant at 15 

mTorr. At a constant 50W of RF power, a similar change in crystallographic structure occurs 

from predominantly cubic at 40 mTorr to a mixture of cubic and hexagonal at low pressure (10 

mTorr). 

The optical absorption also changes with sputter power and sputtering gas pressure; see 

Figure 2.8. The conditions that lead to greater ion bombardment (low pressure or high RF 

power) produce films with a wider absorption edge or band gap. Much of this upward shift in 

the band edge probably arises from strain in the films and the change in predominant 

crystallographic phase. But some shift in band gap may also arise from a composition 

dependence of the band gap. For cubic films, the dependence of band gap on Mg composition 

Figure 2.6. Thickness dependence of CdMgTe films a) with R.F. power at 15 mTorr a

b) with Ar pressure at 50 W of RF power. 

nd 

0 15 30 45 60 75

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Thickness(μm)

r.f. Power(W)

0 10 20 30 40 50

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Thickness(μm)

Pressure(mtorr)

5
(x-value) is [1] 

 Eg(x) = 1.5 - 0.3x (1-x) + 2x, where the bowing parameter is 0.3. (1) 

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

0

200

400

600

0

200

400

600

0

200

400

600

0

200

400

600

2θ(degree)

 30W

Intensit

y(ar

b.unit)

 40W

 50W

 60W

20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

0

100

200

300

400

100

200

300

400

0

100

200

300

400

0

100

200

300

400

2θ(degree)

10 mtorr

Intensity(arb.unit)

30 mtorr

40 mtorr

20 mtorr

Figure 2.7. XRD spectra of CdMgTe: a) RF power variation b) Ar pressure variation. 

30 35 40 45 50 55 60

1.60

1.65

1.70

1.75

1.80

1.85

1.90

Band Gap (eV)

r. f Power (watt)

10 15 20 25 30 35 40

1.60

1.65

1.70

1.75

1.80

1.85

1.90

1.95

2.00

Band gap (eV)

Pressure (mtorr)

Figure 2.8. Variation of CdMgTe band gap a) vs. RF power at 15 mTorr; b) vs. Ar pressure 

at 50 W of RF power. 

6
Studies were made using atomic force microscopy to estimate the grain size in these 

films. Consistent with the indications from the x-ray diffraction, the grain sizes ranged from as 

large as 500 nm at high pressure (40 mTorr) and low RF power (20 W) to as small as 5-10 nm at 

20 mTorr and 50 W. In fact the XRD diffractograms of Figure 2.7 show considerable evidence 

of peak broadening due to small grain size effects. 

With respect to the magnetron sputtering of these alloy films of CdMgTe, we find that 

there is considerable control of the film strain, composition, and crystallographic phase through 

the sputter parameters of RF power, gas pressure and substrate temperature. One disadvantage 

of the Mg alloy films is that the sputter rate is noticeably slower than for CdTe or the Mn and Zn 

alloys. We did find in Phase I that the use of Ne as a sputter gas produced a change in film 

composition due to the change in mass ratios. Films were slightly richer in Mg content relative 

to those sputtered with Ar gas. However, the sputter rate was not improved. 

2.2 Post-deposition treatments of CdMgTe films 

Figure 2.9. Temperature vs. time profile of 

the one-inch diameter tube furnace. 

Samples typically spent 2-5 minutes at the 

treatment time of ~387 o

C. 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Temperature(0c)

Time(minute) Temperature(0c)

Time(minute)

Although alloy films with good optical and crystallographic quality could be produced by 

magnetron sputtering, we found that CdS/CdMgTe devices exhibited poor photo-response. In 

much the same way as for CdS/CdTe bilayers, the photo-response could be improved by postdeposition treatments. We used a variety of procedures including annealing in inert ambients 

and activation treatments in vapors containing chlorine. 

Films containing Mg could not tolerate high temperature treatments in vapors containing 

Cl for longer than a couple of minutes. However, the photovoltaic performance was enhanced 

by these treatments. Treatments were performed in a small tube furnace with the sample placed 

face down above a source plate prepared by evaporating several drops of CdCl2/methanol 

solution on a microscope slide. The film and source plate were separated by ~1mm spacers. 

7
After preheating the furnace, the 1 inch diameter quartz tube was placed in the furnace with the 

sample and source in the tube that had been purged of ambient. Either pure Ar or a dry air flow 

was maintained through the tub during the high temperature cycle. The time-temperature profile 

at the sample position is shown in Figure 2.9. 

Treatment times longer than about 2 minutes for the samples sputtered from the 40% 

target (compositions ~20 at% Mg) resulted in considerable shift of the band gap to longer 

wavelengths (closer to that of CdTe). For the lower composition Mg films, sputtered from the 

20% Mg by weight target, treatment times of up to five minutes could be tolerated. 

2.3. Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS device 

Solar cells with configuration glass/ITO/CdS/Cd1-xMgxTe/metal were fabricated as 

described in Sections 2.1 and 2.2. In order to understand the effects of cadmium-chloride 

activation and Cu diffusion, we have completed devices with and without cadmium-chloride 

annealing and with and without Cu diffusion. Different devices were made from large-area films 

which were cut into different pieces. It was found that both cadmium-chloride annealing and Cu 

diffusion are necessary to obtain better efficiencies. Thus the optimum device fabrication 

procedure is nearly identical to that of the binary CdTe cells. The effects of vapor cadmium 

chloride annealing and Cu diffusion on the device parameters are presented in Tables 2.1 and 

2.2. Table 2.1 demonstrates that the Jsc and hence the device efficiency increases rapidly 

between 5 and 10 minutes of CdCl2 activation. Further, the required activation duration appears 

to decrease as the film thickness decreases. All these devices were vapor-chloride treated at 387 o

C and the Cu diffusion time was fixed at 10 minutes at 150oC. 

Table 2.1. Device parameters Voc, Jsc, FF, and efficiency (η) of Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS top cells 

vapor-cadmium-chloride treated for different times. Three different deposition plates 

with different CdTe thickness (d), deposition temperature (Tsub) were used. Smaller 

coupons were cut for differing vapor cadmium chloride activation temperature (TCL), 

activation duration (tCL), and Cu diffusion time (tCu). 

Device d 

(μm) 

Tsub

(

o

C) 

TCL

(

o

C) 

tCL 

(min) 

tCu

(min) 

 Voc

(V) 

 Jsc

(mAcm-2) FF 

η 

(%)

CGT73a2 0.71 266 387 15 10 .61 11.2 37 2.2 

CGT73c1 0.71 266 387 10 10 .63 11.8 37 2.3 

CGT73b1 0.71 266 387 5 10 .477 1.40 45 0.2 

CGT73b2 0.71 266 387 5 10 .66 3.22 44 0.53 

CGT72b1 0.66 250 387 10 10 .65 12.4 32 2.4 

CGT72a2 0.66 250 387 5 10 .63 16.2 35 3.4 

CGT72b3 0.66 250 387 3 10 .64 9.5 30 1.5 

CGT80a1 0.55 250 387 5 10 0.53 9 27 1 

CGT80a2 0.55 250 387 2 10 0.43 0.34 30 0.04 

Table 2.2 shows the effect of Cu diffusion time on the device parameters. The Cu 

diffusion temperature was 150 o

C in ambient air. The device performance improves slightly as 

the Cu diffusion time increases from 5 to 15 minutes. 

8
Table 2.2. The effect of Cu diffusion on the device parameters; Voc, Jsc, FF, and efficiency of the 

Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS top cell. Two batches of films were used. Processing conditions 

are identified as in Table 2.1. 

Device d 

(μm) 

Tsub

(

o

C) 

TCL

(

o

C) 

tCL 

(min) 

tCu

(min) 

 Voc

(V) 

 Jsc

(mAcm-2) FF 

η 

(%)

CGT72a1 0.66 250 387 5 5 .64 13.5 33 2.47 

CGT72a1-2 0.66 250 387 5 5+10 .65 15 32 2.5 

CGT 53 1.75 200 0 0 0 0.38 0.44 

CGT 53 1.75 200 0 0 15 0.37 0.66 

The completed devices were tested under AM1.5 illumination and the I-V characteristic 

of a typical device under 100 mWcm-2 illumination is shown in Figure 2.11. The thickness of 

the Cd0.95Mg0.05Te film used to fabricate the prototype device was 0.66 μm. The device was 

annealed at 387 o

C for 5 minutes in CdCl2 vapor in dry air. We were unable to fabricate good 

devices with alloy absorber thicknesses above 1 μm. This is a reflection of the fact that the alloy 

films have very high resistivity and is consistent with very short minority carrier lifetimes in 

these films. These factors would explain the poor fill factor and large series resistance. 

Figure 2.10. J-V relationship at AM 1.5 

illumination (100 mWcm-2) for a prototype 

Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS device. -0.4 0.0 0.4 0.8

-20

-10

0

10

CGT 72a2

Voc=0.63 V

Jsc=17 mA/cm2

FF=36

η=3.8%

J (A/cm2

)

v (V)

Through collaboration with the University of Nevada Las Vegas group of Clemens 

Heske, some of the alloy films were studied by x-ray emission spectroscopy. These results are 

reported in Section 6 below. The results show that these Mg alloy films are highly susceptible to 

oxidation even prior to chloride activation. However, the activation process in air still results in 

a significant improvement in the cell performance. Control of oxygen is likely to be very 

important to further optimization of these alloy films. 

One of the important requirements for the top cell in a tandem device is the sub-gap 

transmittance which controls current matching in a two-terminal device. The transmittance 

through a Cd0.95Mg0.05Te/CdS device (complete except for back contacts) identical to the one 

used to generate the J-V graph in Figure 2.10 is presented in Figure 2.11. The transmittance 

spectra were recorded (a) with air as reference, and (b) with a bare Tec-7 substrate as reference. 

From a comparison of the two spectra it is clear that there is significant transmission loss due to 

the 3 mm thick Tec-7 substrate (soda-lime glass) with the commercial SnO2:F. Figure 2.11a 

9
shows about 45 % transmittance through the device structure in the region of interest for a 

suitable bottom cell. However, the use of more transparent glass and TCO is approximated by 

spectrum (b) in Figure 2.11, which was recorded with a Tec 7 plate in the reference beam. This 

shows transmission of about 75% in the relevant spectral region. 

400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

0

20

40

60

80

100

(b)

Air baseline (a)

T7 baseline

T %

λ (nm)

Figure 2.11. Transmittance spectra of a typical Tec7/CdS/ Cd0.95Mg0.05Te 

device with (a) air as reference, and (b) Tec 7 plate as 

reference.

2.4. Ultra-thin sputtered CdTe for top cell structures 

As an alternative to a wider bandgap II-VI alloy material as a top cell, we studied the 

performance of cells with ultra-thin CdTe layers, with thickness varying from 240 nm to 870 nm. 

Tec-15 glass of 3 × 3 inch was used for this study as substrate. A 65 nm thick CdS layer of 

uniform thickness was first coated onto the substrate. Based upon our previous studies, thinner 

CdTe layers require somewhat thinner CdS to obtain optimized cell performance. Our earlier 

work showed best and average cell efficiencies of 12% and 11%, respectively, with 70nm CdS / 

0.95 μm CdTe layers after proper optimization. We have not done this optimization of the CdS 

thickness in this study. For the purpose of minimizing shunting through CdS, we chose the CdS 

to be 65 nm. 

For the CdTe deposition, we modified the normal geometry by tilting the substrate 45°

from the normal to the sputter gun, as shown in Figure 2.12. (Previous study has confirmed 1) 

an approximately linear relationship between film growth rate and distance from the target 

surface and 2) that the performance of cells made with such angled CdTe deposition also reaches 

around 12% for 2.3 μm CdTe.) The CdTe film thickness was measured at several positions by 

stylus profilometry and fitted as a linear function of distance from the edge of thinnest side 

(Figure 2.13). The CdTe thickness in this set of samples covers the range from 240 nm through 

870 nm. 

The deposited film area was 54 mm × 57 mm due to the size of the aperture of the 

substrate holder and we estimate approximately 2 mm of film was partially shadowed by the 

edge of the substrate holder on the left and right sides. Thus the film region with slowly varying 

10
thickness is around 50 mm wide. The sample was cut into four 12.5 mm wide pieces for CdCl2

treatment with different durations, as recorded in Figure 2.13. After all the CdCl2 treatments, the 

four pieces were put together for a single 15Å Cu/ 200 Å Au back contact evaporation followed 

by a12.5 minute thermal contact activation at 150 °

C in ambient air. After the contact activation, 

laser scribing was employed to define square cells with 3mm × 3mm dimensions. The laser 

scribing defined 19 cells per row with the same CdTe thickness. The average efficiency of cells 

that had efficiency at least 50% of the best of the 19 cells of each row is plotted in Figure 2.14, 

together with those best cells. Cells below this threshold were excluded from the calculation. 

Figure 2.12 Top view of sputtering 

chamber using tilted CdTe deposition at 

45°

.

Figure 2.13 CdTe film thickness vs 

distance from the edge of thinner side. y = 12.809x + 242.78

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

0 12.5 25 37.5 50

distance from edge(mm)

CdTe Thickness (nm)

775-1

4.0min

775-2

6.0min

775-3

8.0min

775-4

11.0min

The most interesting result of these cells is that the best performance of 330 nm CdTe 

reaches 6.0% with Jsc of 19.55 mA/cm2

. The average efficiency of these 330 nm thick cells is 

4.9%, although the yield was only 31%. For the thinnest CdTe film (240 nm), the best efficiency 

can also reach 5.2% with Jsc of 17.5 mA/cm2

 and 37% yield. The QE of the best cells with 

CdTe below 450 nm is plotted in Figure 2.15. The data from this single, preliminary study 

indicate a gradual trend of decreasing performance but probably no fundamental limit to the 

11
fabrication of ultra-thin CdTe cells that yield a current-matching condition for two-terminal 

tandem devices. 

Figure 2.14 Average and best 

cell performance as function of 

CdTe film thickness.

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

dCdTe (nm)

Eff(%)

Ave Eff

Best Eff

Figure 2.15 Quantum 

efficiency of cells with CdTe 

thickness below 450 nm.

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

445 495 545 595 645 695 745 795 845 895

Wavelength (nm)

QE

290 nm

330 nm

406 nm

12
3. Transparent Contacts/Window Layers and Recombination Junctions (Task 12) 

Transparent back contacts to top cells are particularly useful if the contact is a p+/n+ 

structure for then it would be identical to a recombination junction in a monolithically integrated 

double-junction tandem cell. Thus it is possible to make a single-junction cell with transparent 

back contact that is the top half of a tandem and optimize this top half separately. 

Thus, we studied CdS/CdTe solar cells with 2.3 μm CdTe thickness on which we 

prepared four different types of p+/n+ transparent back contacts (TBCs). We used ZnTe:Cu and 

ZnTe:N as the p-type materials, and ZnO:Al and indium tin oxide (ITO) as the n-type materials. 

This gives four possible combinations: ZnTe:Cu/ZnO:Al, ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al, ZnTe:Cu/ITO, and 

ZnTe:N/ITO. Our results show that ZnTe:N/ITO gives the best results. This back contact was 

then used to make cells of reduced (1.8 μm and 0.7 μm) CdTe thickness with the best cells 

giving performance up to 9.1% efficiency. 

All cells were prepared on commercially available Pilkington TEC 7 fluorine-doped tinoxide-coated soda-lime glass. All subsequent layers were deposited by RF sputtering in pure 

argon except for the ZnTe:N which was reactively sputtered in ~5% N2 in argon. CdS and CdTe 

were deposited at 250°C and 18 mTorr argon pressure with 35 and 20 watts of RF power, 

respectively into the two-inch magnetrons. All samples used nominally the same 0.13 μm 

thickness of CdS. After CdS/CdTe deposition, the 2.3 μm CdTe samples were CdCl2 treated at 

387°C for 30 minutes. Samples having CdTe with reduced thickness were treated for a time 

reduced in proportion to their thickness. After CdCl2 treatment, the next layer was either 

ZnTe:N deposited from an undoped ZnTe target by reactive sputtering in a 5% nitrogen-95% 

argon environment, or ZnTe:Cu deposited from a target doped with 2% copper by weight. In 

both cases, the layer was deposited at a substrate temperature of 325°C. The final layer was an 

n-type transparent conductive oxide, either ITO or ZnO:Al. The ITO target was 90% In2O3 and 

10% SnO2 by weight. For the ZnTe:Cu/ITO contact, ITO was deposited at 150°C. For the 

ZnTe:N/ITO contact, ITO was deposited at various temperatures. The ZnO:Al was deposited at 

200°C from a ceramic target with 2% Al2O3 by weight. 

When ITO was used as the final n+ layer, we found that the resistivity of the film needed 

to be controlled carefully to obtain good cell performance. The following section describes the 

variation in ITO conductivity with deposition conditions during RF sputtering. 

 

3.1 Effect of ITO Deposition Temperature

Figure 3.1 shows that the conductivity of ITO deposited on glass can be controlled over 

three orders of magnitude as the substrate temperature increases from 25 °C to 300 °C. 

Figure 3.1 Variation of ITO conductivity with 

deposition temperature. 

10

100

1000

10000

0 100 200 300 400

Deposition Temperature (C)

Conductivity (ohm-1-cm-1)

13
Although one might expect the best solar cells to use transparent back contacts with the 

greatest conductivity, we have observed that this is not necessarily the case. Figure 3.2 shows JV curves obtained from three cells with 2.3 μm CdTe and a ZnTe:N/ITO back contact for 

various ITO deposition temperatures. For low deposition temperature (50°C) ITO (figure 3.2a), 

the open-circuit voltage is similar to the middle and high temperature cases (Figures. 3.2b and 

3.2c), but efficiency is limited by large series resistance, lowering the short-circuit current and 

reducing the fill factor essentially to 25%. In the case of medium temperature deposition 

(170°C), good overall parameters are obtained (Figure 3.2b). When the temperature is increased 

further to 300°C (Figure 3.2c), the performance is pathological. “Rollunder” appears in the 

fourth quadrant that reduces the fill factor to less than 25%. Such cells also usually have higher 

efficiency when illuminated from the back side than from the front. 

We believe this problem observed at high temperature is not due to subjecting the entire 

cell to high temperature in the final stage of the deposition, for the following reasons. The 

previous deposition of ZnTe:N in this contact structure is done at even higher temperature 

(325°C). It is possible to measure J-V curves by contacting the ZnTe:N adjacent to the ITO 

contacts, and while current collection is very poor, no rollunder or rollover is observed. (The 

ZnTe:N is not deposited through a mask but forms a continuous film on the CdTe.) Finally, it is 

possible to first deposit dot cell ITO contacts at the high temperature condition and then perform 

a second deposition of dot cell contacts at the medium temperature condition between the high 

temperature ITO contacts, and the behavior of the different series of cells is what would be 

obtained with a single deposition. We speculate that the development of rollunder is caused by 

poor band alignment between the ZnTe:N and the high-temperature deposited ITO, as the 

electron affinity of ITO may change with preparation conditions. 

3.2 Performance of 2.3 μm Cells with Different Back Contacts

Figure 3.3a shows the J-V curves for cells with ZnO:Al as the n-type contact. Of the four 

types of contacts used in our study, ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al gives the worst performance, with open 

circuit voltage being particularly poor. While the ZnTe:Cu/ZnO:Al contact has a reasonable 

open circuit voltage, typical of CdTe cells containing copper, the large series resistance (23 ohmcm

2

) decreases the fill factor, which is the greatest limitation to its the efficiency as compared to 

ZnTe:N/ITO cells. Figure 3.3b shows the J-V curves for cells with ITO as the n-type contact. 

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

J (mA/cm2

)

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

J (mA/cm2

)

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

J (mA/cm2

)

(a) (b) (c) 

Figure 3.2 J-V curves of CdTe/ZnTe:N/ITO cells using (a) low temperature and low 

conductivity, (b) medium temperature and medium conductivity, and (c) high 

temperature and high conductivity ITO. 

14
For cells with ZnTe:Cu as the p-type layer, the most dramatic difference here from the cells with 

ZnO:Al is the rollover in the first quadrant in the ITO case. This is typical of a back contact 

barrier that can result from poor valence band alignment at the back contact. Of the four types 

of contacts, ZnTe:N/ITO gives the best overall results, provided the ITO conductivity is 

optimized through the appropriate deposition temperature. 

The parameters and performances of the best cells with each back contact and for 2.3 μm 

of CdTe are summarized in Table 3.1. In addition, we present the results of the optimized 

transparent contact on cells with thinner CdTe. 

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

Current Density (mA/cm2

)

ZnTe:N/ITO

ZnTe:Cu/ITO

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Voltage (V)

Current Density (mA/cm2

)

ZnTe:Cu/ZnO:Al

ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al

Figure 3.3 J-V data for cells with 2.3 μm CdTe (a) with ZnO:Al as the n-type layer (b) with ITO 

as the n-type layer. 

Table 3.1 Efficiency and second-order metrics for CdTe cells with transparent contacts.

Back Contact 

CdTe 

thickness 

(μm) 

Voc 

(mV)

Jsc 

(mA/cm2)

Fill Factor

(%)

Efficiency 

(%)

ZnTe:Cu/ZnO:Al 2.3 762 20.8 38 6.1 

ZnTe:Cu/ITO 2.3 640 17.7 43 4.9 

ZnTe:N/ZnO:Al 2.3 543 21.6 35 4.1 

ZnTe:N/ITO 2.3 676 21 53 7.5 

ZnTe:N/ITO 1.8 643 19.9 65.1 9.1 

ZnTe:N/ITO 0.7 676 21.7 52.4 7.4 

3.3 Cells with ZnTe:N/ITO Back Contact and reduced CdTe thickness

Although our standard CdTe cells with metal back contacts use 2.3 μm of CdTe, such 

thicknesses are unlikely to be useful in double-junction cells. In monolithically integrated cells, 

the currents produced by the top and bottom cells must be equal. This current-matching 

condition is easier to meet if the top cell is more transparent, and in fact thinner CdTe can 

transmit an appreciable fraction of above-bandgap light. Furthermore, we have shown that it is 

possible to fabricate cells with metal contacts and as little as 0.7 μm of CdTe and achieve 

reasonable performance [2] comparing favorably to our best CdTe cells.[3] 

With that motivation, we have fabricated cells of different CdTe thicknesses using the 

ZnTe:N/ITO contact found to be best for 2.3μm CdTe cells. The last three rows of Table 3.1 

15
summarize the best cell performances as a function of CdTe thickness for the optimized, 

transparent contact. 

Among the back contacts tested in our study, ZnTe:N/ITO is found to give the best 

results. Our best cell with an n-type/p-type bilayer back contact is 9.1%. There is plenty of 

room for improvement compared to our best cell on the same Tec-7 substrate with a metal back 

contact, which is 12.6%, but we are optimistic that further improvements will be possible. 

Future work will involve other back contact optimizations, including attempts at incorporating 

copper or a tellurium-rich layer. Measurements and modeling are also needed to understand 

band alignment issues, carrier lifetimes, depletion widths and neutral regions. 

16
4. Interconnect studies and related nonideal tandem cell modeling (Task 13) 4.1. Optical Modeling of II-VI Tandem Device Performance 

 4.1.1 Introduction

Three separate experimental approaches have been adopted for application of 

spectroscopic ellipsometry to alloy materials and device development. 

 (1) Ex situ ellipsometric spectra are obtained on as-deposited films to determine the band gap 

and critical point structure (i.e., the higher energy band gaps). Such measurements are can also 

be repeated after post-deposition treatments (such as annealing in CdCl2 vapor) and the energy 

shifts and changes in width of the band gap and critical point structures provide information on 

the survivability and ultimately improvement of the alloy. Such results were presented in Sec. 

6.1. 

 (2) Accurate dielectric functions are determined for those alloys that have been deposited and 

successfully treated post-deposition while retaining the appropriate alloy composition and band 

gap. Dielectric functions are also determined for all other components of the device, including 

the glass and TEC coatings [4], the window layer, transparent back contact, and recombination 

junction materials, and the metal contacts. 

 (3) The dielectric function database is then used in the optical design of tandems, focusing on 

the two terminal configuration that requires current matching. In such studies, the maximum 

possible current is determined, based on incident AM 1.5 irradiance. In addition, the absorption 

within the superstrate glass, the TEC coatings, window layer, transparent back contact, and 

recombination junction materials provide insights into the practical limitations on the photon 

collection capability of the tandems. 

4.1.2 Results and Discussion 

4.1.2.1 Optical Properties of II-VI Tandem Cell Components 

Dielectric functions determined as described in Sec. 1 were used for the active layer alloy 

components. For the near band edge optical properties, the index of refraction was used from 

spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements, whereas the absorption coefficient was used 

based on SE but with an extrapolation just above the band gap given by α(E)n(E)E = B(E 

− Eg)

1/2, as would be expected from a direct band gap semiconductor. This helps to ensure that 

the determined quantum efficiency reflects high quality, active thin film materials. 

Figure 4.1 Dielectric function of as-deposited and CdCl2 treated CdS, the latter used in optical 

modeling of tandem solar cell performance. 

17
Figure 4.1 shows an example of the determination of the optical properties of the other 

components of the device. In this case, the CdS results shown were obtained on a film deposited 

on fused silica with a substrate temperature of 250°C, at an Ar pressure of 18 mTorr, and 35 W 

RF power. The time of deposition is 8.5 min, which leads to a film with a bulk layer thickness of 

db = 1230 Å. A two-layer roughness/bulk optical model was used, and the surface roughness 

thickness as an effective medium layer was found to be ds = 43 Å. Thus, the effective thickness 

(db + 0.5ds) deposition rate was 2.5 Å/s. Only SE data are used to extract the optical properties 

for this film; for thicker films, transmission data are also used in order to find obtain more 

accurate values of ε2 just above the band gap. 

Figure 4.2 Dielectric function of ZnTe:N fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering of a ZnTe 

target using gas flows of ~ 2 sccm of N2 and ~ 60 sccm of Ar. 

Figures 4.2 and 4.3 show dielectric functions for two types of p-type doped transparent 

back contact materials prepared by rf magnetron sputtering [5]. These data provide a basic 

understanding of the nature of the materials and their absorption characteristics. The material 

intended to be ZnTe:N shown in Figure 4.2 was deposited from a pure ZnTe target onto fused 

silica held at 325°C. The gas pressure was 10 mTorr, the gas flows consisted of ~ 2 sccm of N2

and ~ 60 sccm of Ar, and the RF power was 80 W, leading to a deposition rate of 2.4 Å/s. For 

this p+

-type back contact material, no evidence of crystalline ZnTe structure appears. The results 

suggest that the N2 plays a key role in the sputtering process, altering the crystalline structure of 

the material, possibly leading to a-Te inclusions. In fact, with the exception of sharp features in 

(ε1, ε 2) near 2 eV, the material appears amorphous. For ZnTe:Cu shown in Figure 4.3, no N2

was used and the Cu was introduced through the target (0.75 wt.% Cu). For the ZnTe:Cu, the 

three higher energy critical points in Figure 4.3 at 3.61, 4.15, and 5.26 eV mirror those in single 

crystal ZnTe, but are much broader. The band gap critical point in the thin film could not be 

detected and instead broad band edge absorption appears as an effect of the heavy Cu doping. 

Thus, the results of Figures 4.2 and 4.3 for the two different p-type ZnTe films demonstrate how 

a routine ex situ optical measurement can provide insights into the nature of new materials. 

Finally, Figure 4.4 shows the dielectric function of a sputtered In2O3:Sn thin film that is 

designed for use as a transparent interconnect between polycrystalline top II-VI alloy and bottom 

cells. The substrate temperature was 95°C, the gas pressure and flow were 4.7 mTorr and 30 

18
sccm, respectively, the RF power was 60 W, and the deposition time was 15 min. These results 

were obtained by combining ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission spectroscopy in 

order to characterize the weak absorption, particularly at low energy where absorption losses are 

undesirable. Here a very clear free electron absorption tail is observed below 1.5 eV in both 

parts of the dielectric function. 

-4

0

4

8

12

16

ε1

01234567

0

4

8

12

16

CPPB fit inverted ZnTe:Cu

 inversion of ZnTe:Cu

PHOTON ENERGY (eV)

ε2 

surface roughness 81 Å

Soda lime glass 1 mm

 ZnTe:Cu 5248 Å

Figure 4.3. Dielectric function of ZnTe:Cu fabricated by rf magnetron sputtering of a ZnTe 

target incorporating 0.75 wt.% Cu. 

Figure 4.4. Optical constants of In2O3:Sn used as a transparent interconnect for II-VI tandem solar cells. 

 

19
4.1.2.2 Optical Modeling of II-VI Tandem Solar Cells 

Figure 4.5 shows the short circuit current under current-matching conditions as a function 

of total active layer thickness for hypothetical Cd1-xMgxTe - HgxCd1-xTe tandem solar cell 

structures. 

The individual layer thicknesses are given at the right side of Figure 4.5 with the active 

layer thicknesses, varied so as to achieve current matching as given in Table 4.1. Dielectric 

functions for the best Cd1-xMgxTe with a band gap of 1.6 eV were used, as were those for 

HgxCd1-xTe with a band gap of 1.1 eV. For HgxCd1-xTe, development of improved dielectric 

functions for the optimum treated films is in progress. 

SiO2 214 Å 

350 Å SnO2 

Soda lime glass 3mm 

Figure 4.5 Short circuit current under current matching conditions versus total active layer 

thickness (X+Y) predicted for a tandem II-VI solar cell based on thin film optical 

modeling. The tandem stack and other layer thicknesses are shown at the right. 

Table 4.1. Thickness of active layers and short circuit current under current matching conditions 

obtained from optical modeling of tandem II-VI PV devices. 

Thickness of active layers (μm) Short circuit current 

Cd1-xMgxTe HgxCd1-xTe Cd1-xMgxTe + HgxCd1-xTe (mA/cm2) 

0.440 0.435 0.875 11.38 

0.600 1.300 1.900 13.07 

0.615 2.600 3.215 13.16 

0.615 5.000 5.615 13.19 

Figure 4.6 shows the results of the calculations of optical quantum efficiency and 

reflectance, and Figure 4.7 includes absorption losses in the non-active layers for the pair of 

current-matched thicknesses of 0.6 μm for Cd1-xMgxTe and 1.3 μm for HgxCd1-xTe. The optical 

model enables one to evaluate the origin of the losses in a realistic structure designed for low 

cost, including, for example, a soda-lime glass substrate with TEC-15 coatings as in current 

CdTe module production. The losses that arise from the reflectance and absorbance in Figures 

4.6 and 4.7 have been evaluated in terms of lost current. 

Au 200 Å 

Cu 30 Å 

HgxCd1-xTe (1.1eV) Y Å 

CdS 1300 Å 

1000 Å In2O3:Sn 

ZnTe:(Cu or N) 1000 Å 

Cd1-xMgxTe (1.6 eV) X Å 

CdS 1300 Å 

SnO2:F 3490 Å 

11.20

11.60

12.00

12.40

12.80

13.20

13.60

0.000 1.000 2.000 3.000 4.000 5.000 6.000

Thickness (microns)

Current (mA/cm2)

0.6 μm Cd1−xMgxTe 

1.3 μm HgxCd1−xTe 

20
(i) Reflection from the full structure amounts to 1.9 mA/cm2

 for E > 1.6 eV and 3.7 mA/cm2

for 1.1 < E < 1.6 eV. These losses can be reduced through antireflection coatings on the top 

glass as well as improved anti-reflection characteristics, first between the TEC-15 layers and the 

top cell, and second between the interconnect layer and the bottom cell. The latter reflection is 

particularly significant. 

Figure 4.6. Predicted optical QE and reflectance for a Cd1-xMgxTe (0.6 μm) - HgxCd1-xTe (1.3 

μm) tandem. 

 (ii) Absorption in the soda-lime glass and TCO layers using the optical stack and layer 

optical properties appropriate for TEC-15 amounts to 2.3 mA/cm2

 for E > 1.6 eV and to 4.1 

mA/cm2

 for 1.1 < E < 1.6 eV). The absorption of soda-lime glass in the infrared seems to 

generate the primary problem for the bottom cell, and the absorption by the SnO2:F generates the 

problem for the top cell. 

(iii) Absorption in the top 1300 Å CdS layer amounts to 4.9 mA/cm2

 for E > 1.6 eV. This 

layer does not affect the bottom cell collection, nor does the CdS window layer of the bottom cell 

affect this collection. 

(iv) Absorption in the heavily doped 1000 Å ZnTe:Cu top cell back contact amounts to 1.0 

mA/cm2

. This is due to a relatively strong absorption tail below the band gap, most likely due to 

heavy doping as can be seen in Figure 4.3. Figure 4.8 shows how the quantum efficiency 

component from the bottom cell can be enhanced when the thickness of the ZnTe:Cu is reduced 

to 400 Å. When the ZnTe:N is used, the absorption is so strong that the thickness of layer must 

be reduced from 1000 Å to 400 Å and even then, current matching is only possible at the level of 

9.6 mA/cm2

 due to limited current collection in the bottom cell. 

21
Figure 4.7. Predicted absorbances in the substrate and non-active layers for a Cd1-xMgxTe (0.6 

μm) - HgxCd1-xTe (1.3 μm) tandem. 

Figure 4.8. Improvement of the quantum efficiency of the HgxCd1-x Te bottom cell due to a 

reduction in the top cell ZnTe:Cu transparent back-contact thickness. 

22
Considering these optical losses, if a cell could be made with a Voc of 1.5 V and a fill 

factor (FF) of 0.75, the current of 13.1 mA/cm2

 would yield an efficiency of ~14.7%. The losses 

described above are well-balanced between the top cell (9.1 mA/cm2

) and bottom cell (8.8 

mA/cm2

), however, and if these losses could be overcome, the matched current could reach ~22 

mA/cm2

. The above Voc and FF would then yield 24.6% efficiency. Thus, such modeling gives 

insights into the specific optical issues that must be overcome to reach high efficiencies in 

polycrystalline thin film tandem PV technology. 

 4.1.3 Conclusion

The utility of optical studies based on spectroscopic ellipsometry for development of thin 

film II-VI ternary alloys for tandem PV has been demonstrated. The dielectric function of the 

films in as-deposited and CdCl2 treated states provide immediate feedback into the success of the 

treatment. Also, the dielectric functions of all the components of the tandem device serve as a 

database for tandem cell optical design. 

23
5. HgCdTe bottom cell studies/back contact (Task 14) 

Sputter deposition of Hg alloys of CdTe has continued in Phase III of this project. It was 

found in Phase II that the substrate deposition temperature had a strong effect on the Hg 

concentration in the film. Thus considerable effort was placed on obtaining a reliable 

measurement of the substrate temperature which is radiatively heated from a tantalum wire 

heater approximately 2 cm behind the substrate. Thermocouple probes on the front and back 

sides of the glass substrate showed large differences in readouts unless they were bonded to the 

glass with indium solder. However bonding the thermocouple tips is not convenient as a 

standard practice. Concurrently we used optical interference fringes from the front and back 

sides of the glass as reported in earlier work. Once the temperature was calibrated, we found that 

heater power was a reliable indicator of substrate temperature as long as the substrate was a glass 

coated with a TCO opposite the heater. The difference in absorptivity and emissivity of the two 

surfaces – glass and TCO has a large effect on the substrate temperature. 

Figure 5.1 J-V curves 

of two small dot cells 

with HgCdTe absorber 

layers as indicated. 

- 0.04

0

0.04

0.08

0.12

- 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

Voltage (V)

Current Density (A/ cm2

)

mct86V.16

mct86V.17

mct78F08

MCT86V (Dot 16)

Voc = 507 mV

Jsc = 24.6 mA/cm2

FF = 50.0 %

Eff = 6.2 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT78F (Dot 08)

Voc = 386 mV

Jsc = 17.9 mA/cm2

FF = 49.6 %

Eff = 3.4 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT78F = T7/ CdS(0.2 um)/HgCdTe (~1.5 um) 

 + CdCl2 treatment (420 °C, 2 min)

MCT86V (Dot 17)

Voc = 503 mV

Jsc = 24.5 mA/cm2

FF = 54.3 %

Eff = 6.7 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT86V = T7/ CdS(0.1um)/ CdTe(0.2um)/HgCdTe (~1.5 um) 

 + CdCl2 treatment (420 °C, 2 min)

5.1 HgCdTe cell fabrication

The sputter deposition temperature was optimized to 85 o

C. A series of cells were 

prepared with junctions of CdS/HgCdTe in order to make a preliminary optimization of the 

deposition conditions. This was followed by the addition of a pure CdTe interfacial layer next to 

the CdS window layer. These cells yielded the best J-V response (Figure 5.1). The external 

quantum efficiency (Figure 5.2) shows that there is substantial photocurrent response out to a 

wavelength of 1100 nm. This is consistent with an absorber composition having a Hg content of 

15%. 

5.2 Back contacts for the bottom cell

For cells prepared with the Hg-alloy absorber, we found that an evaporated Cu/Au back 

contact similar to that used for the pure CdTe absorber cells gave good performance and no 

further work was done on the back contacts. 

24
Figure 5.2 External 

quantum efficiency of 

the two cells of Figure 

5.1. No light or voltage 

bias was used. 

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300

Wavelength (nm)

QE(%)

QE(MCT86V16)

QE(MCT86V17)

QE(MCT78F08) MCT86V (Dot 16)

Voc = 507 mV

Jsc = 24.6 mA/cm2

FF = 50.0 %

Eff = 6.2 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT86V (Dot 17)

Voc = 503 mV

Jsc = 24.5 mA/cm2

FF = 54.3 %

Eff = 6.7 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT86V = T7/ CdS(0.1um)/ CdTe(0.2um)/HgCdTe (~1.5 um)

 + CdCl2 treatment (420 °C, 2 min)

MCT78F (Dot 08)

Voc = 386 mV

Jsc = 17.9 mA/cm2

FF = 49.6 %

Eff = 3.4 %

Area = 0.031 cm2

MCT78F = T7/ CdS(0.2 um)/HgCdTe (~1.5 um)

 + CdCl2 treatment (420 °C, 2 min)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

0 0.5 1 1.5

 Time (log hours)

Efficiency (%)

a)

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 0.5 1 1.5

 Time (log hours)

Fill Factor (%)

b)

2

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 0.5 1 1.5

 Time (log hours)

Jsc (mA/cm2

)

c)

2

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0 0.5 1 1.5

 Time (log hours)

Voc (V)

d)

2

Figure 5.3. Results of light soaking HgCdTe cells. (a) Efficiency (%); (b) FF (%); (c) JSC

(mA/cm2

); and (d) VOC (V). For each plot, the median values (solid red square) and best value 

(solid blue triangle) are shown. On the ordinate are the initial measurements (green, hollow). A 

sample size of 60 cells with area of 0.031cm2

 was used. A minimal loss of efficiency of only 

0.3% over 100 hour period is shown. 

25
5.3 Light soak stressing of CdHgTe 

The results of light soak stressing of CdHgTe cells are shown in Figure 5.3. These cells 

were MCT80E and MCT80b Tec7/CdS (100 nm)/CdHgTe(1.3 μm )/Cu(3 nm)/Au(20 nm) with a 

CdCl2 activation treatment of 4 min at 430°C. Since cells with reasonable efficiency were only 

achieved in the last quarter, this work was done on cells fabricated with a maximum efficiency of 

3.25% and no encapsulation. The data indicate very good stability considering that the cells are 

not encapsulated. Of particular note is the fact that the VOC is constant while the degradation 

comes mostly from the drop in Jsc. 

26
6. Characterization and Stress Studies (Task 15) 

 6.1 Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of II-VI Alloy Films 

6.1.1 Introduction 

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is an excellent non-contacting technique for investigating 

thin-film optical properties, electronic structure, and surface microstructure. This technique has 

been applied for materials evaluation in order to explore the opportunities and identify the 

potential difficulties in the fabrication of II-VI materials for top cells in two-junction devices 

with either monolithic two-terminal or mechanically stacked four-terminal structures (see Figure 

6.1). In this research, two types of top cell material, Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe have been 

studied for their suitability in tandem PV devices with a HgxCd1-xTe bottom cell. 

Figure 6.1. Two-terminal tandem cell based on Cd1-xMgxTe and HgxCd1-xTe absorbers. 

glass 

Cd1-xMgxTe 

ZnO 

CdS 

ZnTe 

ZnO 

CdS 

HgxCd1-xTe 

Cu/Au 

6.1.2 Top cell material candidates: Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe 

6.1.2.1 Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe preparation 

Cd1-xMnxTe films were magnetron sputtered on soda-lime glass substrates from a target 

composed of 13 weight % MnTe and 87 weight % CdTe. Cd1-xMgxTe films were magnetron 

sputtered on soda-lime glass from a commercially-fabricated target composed of 20 weight % 

MgTe and 80 weight % CdTe. A first estimate of the composition of the as-deposited alloys 

films was made on the basis of the optical absorption edge determined from the transmission 

spectra. The Cd1-xMnxTe film thickness was typically about 1 μm; Cd1-xMgxTe films were 

thinner -- about 0.2 μm. A CdCl2 post-treatment was performed as an important step in 

fabricating solar cells using the alloys. Several effects of the CdCl2 treatment are believed to 

enhance the conversion performance of the alloy films, including increasing the grain size, 

improving the alloy/CdS interface, and reducing the lattice mismatch there. For evaluation 

purposes, the CdCl2 treatment was performed on a 2 cm × 3 cm piece of each sample placed in a 

one inch diameter quartz tube. The source was made by evaporating a methanol solution of the 

chloride on a warm glass plate. The sample was placed on the source plate with the film side 

face down and a 1 mm gap between the film surface and the source plate. A typical 30 minute 

CdCl2 treatment was performed on the Cd1-xMgxTe films at a temperature of 387°C. To treat the 

Cd1-xMnxTe films, there were two post-deposition approaches. In one case, the CdCl2 vapor 

treatment was carried out on the films under the same conditions as for Cd1-xMgxTe, and in the 

27
other, a two-step process was applied in which a high temperature annealing step was carried out 

at a temperature of 520°C for 10 minutes under 2% H2/Ar, followed by a standard CdCl2 vapor 

treatment at 385°C for 30 minutes in dry air. 

In order to compare the optical results before and after CdCl2 treatment, over 1 μm 

thickness pure CdTe films were magnetron sputtered onto soda-lime glass at 250°C. For these 

CdTe films, a CdCl2 treatment in dry air ambient was performed at a temperature of 387°C with 

different times optimized for the film thicknesses. 

6.1.2.2 Data analysis and results 

A rotating compensator multichannel spectroscopic ellipsometer with a 0.75 - 6.5 eV 

photon energy range was used to investigate the optical properties of the as-deposited and 

annealed films. The information extracted from SE measurements is very useful for assessing the 

surface and bulk quality of samples. 

As-deposited Cd1-xMgxTe and Cd1-xMnxTe optical properties 

123456

0

4

8

12

16

CdMgTe

CdMnTe

CdTe

Energy (eV)

< e1

>

123456

0

4

8

12

16

123456

0

4

8

12

16

123456

-4

0

4

8

CdMgTe

Energy (eV)

123456

-4

0

4

8

< e2

>

CdMnTe

CdTe

123456

-4

0

4

8

(a) (b) 

Figure 6.2. Real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of pseudo-dielectric function of RF sputtered CdTe 

(Eg = 1.50 eV), Cd1-xMnxTe (Eg = 1.63 eV) and Cd1-xMgxTe (Eg = 1.61 eV) films. 

Figure 6.2 shows the pseudo-dielectric functions of RF magnetron sputtered CdTe, 

Cd1-xMnxTe, and Cd1-xMgxTe films. The thickness of CdTe, Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe films 

are 1.41 μm, 1.0 μm and 0.18 μm, respectively. The band gaps of 1.63 eV for the Cd1-xMnxTe 

film and 1.61 eV for the Cd1-xMgxTe film were estimated from optical transmission 

measurements. These two alloy films as well as the CdTe film are transparent below their band 

gaps, and the spectral density of interference fringes in the lower energy range scales with the 

film thickness. In the high energy range from 2.0 eV to 6.5 eV, features are observed 

corresponding to the higher energy band gaps at the critical points in the joint density of states. 

The imaginary part of the pseudo-dielectric function is most closely related to the joint density of 

28
states and thus the absorptive behavior of films; however, both real and imaginary parts provide 

sensitivity to the film crystalline quality and surface structure. In fact, the broadening energies 

of the peaks at the CPs decrease with an increase in crystalline grain size arising from the 

polycrystalline structure. The band structure critical point parameters including the energy gap 

and broadening energy can be deduced from ε(E) by fitting to a standard analytic line shape [6]

 ( ) /[(2 2 ) ] i E Ae E E i j

φ μ μ ε = Γ − +Γ , (1)

where A is the CP amplitude, Γ and φ are the broadening energy and phase angle, and Ej and μ

are the threshold energy and exponent, the latter defined by the nature of the singularity in the 

electronic joint density of states. These parameters are readily determined by fitting secondderivative spectra d2

ε(E)/dE2. For the ternary alloy system, once relationships have been 

established between the composition and the critical point (CP) energies in the band structure, as 

determined from the dielectric function ε(E), such relationships can be used to estimate the 

composition of any unknown alloy [6,7]. Figure 6.3 shows the experimental second-derivative 

spectra in the pseudo-dielectric function <ε(E)> of an as-deposited Cd1-xMnxTe sample, along 

with best fit results obtained using Eq. (1). 

23456

-100

0

100

d2<ε 1>/dω

2

d2<ε 2>/dω

2

E2 (5.033 eV)

E1

 (3.352 eV)

E1

+Δ1 (3.884 eV)

d2

<

ε>/ d

ω2

Energy (eV)

Figure 6.3. Best fit to the second derivative of the pseudo-dielectric function for an as-deposited 

Cd1−xMnxTe film (lines); the circles represent experimental data. The three CP 

transitions, E1, E1 + Δ1, and E2, are indicated by arrows with energies of 3.352, 3.884, 

and 5.033 eV, respectively. The composition of x=0.06 can be estimated by the 

empirical relationship between E1 and the composition [8].

A comparison of pseudo-dielectric functions of a Cd0.94Mn0.06Te film after Br2/methanol 

etch and after selected times of long term storage is given in Figure 6.4, whereas the 

corresponding results over the period of an hour after the Br2/methanol etch step are given in 

Figure 6.5. The freshly-deposited sample exhibits higher amplitudes in < ε > than a sample that 

has been stored. The data for the Cd0.94Mn0.06Te sample in Figure 6.2 were taken one week after 

film deposition. Thus, it is reasonable to interpret the relatively low amplitudes to surface 

oxidation. By tracking < ε2 > values during Br2/methanol chemical etching processes, one can 

29
23456

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

3

2

1

E2

E1

E1+Δ1

< ε 1

>

Energy (eV)

23456

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2

E2

E1+Δ1 E1

1

3

< ε 2

>

Energy (eV)

Figure 6.4. Pseudo-dielectric function of Cd0.94Mn0.06Te samples after different storage times in 

laboratory ambient: (1) immediately after Br2/methanol etch; (2) 3 weeks after 

deposition; and (3) 1.5 years after deposition. 

123456

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Time increasing

 0.5 min

 3.5 min

 6.5 min

 9.5 min

 18 min

 38 min

 58 min

< 

ε 1

>

Energy (eV)

123456

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Time increasing

 0.5 min

 3.5 min

 6.5 min

 9.5 min

 18 min

 38 min

 58 min

< 

ε 2

>

Energy (eV)

Figure 6.5. Variation of the pseudo-dielectric function of Cd0.94Mn0.06Te with time after 

Br2/methanol etching, measured in situ during exposure to laboratory ambient. 

Figure 6.6. Pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and treated Cd0.94Mn0.06Te samples. 

123456

0

4

8

12

16

20

 As-deposited

 One-step

 385 o

C 30 min with CdCl2

 Two-step

 first 520 o

C 10 min in H2, 

 then 385 o

C 30 min with CdCl2

<ε1

>

Energy (eV)

123456

-4

0

4

8

12

16

20 As-deposited

 One-step

 385 o

C 30 min with CdCl2

 Two-step

 first 520 o

C 10 min in H2, 

 then 385 o

C 30 min with CdCl2

< ε2 >

Energy (eV)

30
develop an optimum procedure to remove the oxide, and achieve the most abrupt interface to the 

ambient. For the results in Figure 6.4, the E1, E1 + Δ1, and E2 critical-point structures can be seen 

clearly in all spectra. The sample measured immediately after etching by Br2/methanol chemical 

solution showed the highest amplitudes of the pseudo-dielectric function in the higher energy 

region. In fact, the maximum values in Figure 6.4 are in accord with those of epitaxial films [8] 

and bulk crystals [9]. Thus, the pseudo-dielectric function after etching is expected to be very 

close to true dielectric function with only small deviations due to residual surface roughness or a 

Te-rich layer generated by the etching process. 

Continuous changes in the pseudo-dielectric function induced by sample exposure to 

laboratory ambient can be observed in real time by SE. Figure 6.5 shows the variation of the 

pseudo-dielectric function of the 3-week-old Cd0.94Mn0.06Te sample exposed to air after 

Br2/methanol etching. For such measurements, the native oxide layer was removed by 0.01-

0.02% Br2/methanol in a few seconds of etching time. Upon exposure of the clean sample to air, 

the pseudo-dielectric function does not change significantly during the initial several minutes; 

however, with increasing time on a longer scale, both real and imaginary parts of the pseudodielectric function gradually decrease. In fact, the imaginary part of the pseudo-dielectric 

function near the E1 + Δ1 CP energy (~ 3.88 eV) decreased by 5% in one hour. 

Optical properties of CdCl2-treated and Cd1-xMnxTe and Cd1-xMgxTe 

 

Figure 6.6 shows the pseudo-dielectric function of as-deposited (3-week-old) and 

annealed Cd0.94Mn0.06Te samples. Using the dielectric function obtained from the Br2/methanoletched Cd0.94Mn0.06Te sample and assuming Te oxide (TeO2) on the surface, a simple 3-layer 

model of oxide/Cd0.94Mn0.06Te/glass could be employed to fit the experimental results for the asdeposited sample, and the thickness of TeO2 layer was found to be ~ 35 Å. For the annealed 

sample, however, it was difficult to fit the experimental data due to lack of reference dielectric 

functions for the surface layer components. In particular, for the sample that was vapor treated 

with CdCl2 at 385°C, the pseudo-dielectric function was much different from that of the asdeposited samples. It was further observed that even after the treated films were etched using 

several etching steps of 0.04 volume % Br2 in methanol, the pseudo-dielectric function shape 

showed much different spectral behavior from the as-deposited sample. This suggests that the 

top layer is substantially modified during treatment, both chemically and morphologically.

20 20

Figure 6.7. Pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and annealed Cd1-xMgxTe samples. 

123456

0

4

8

12

16

 As-deposited

 387oC 30 min CdCl2 treated

< ε 1

>

Energy (eV)

123456

-4

0

4

8

12

16

 As-deposited

 387oC 30 min CdCl2 treated

< ε 2

>

Energy (eV)

31
Figure 6.7 shows the pseudo-dielectric function of as-deposited and CdCl2-treated Cd1-

xMgxTe samples. For the CdCl2-treated Cd1-xMgxTe sample, much less deterioration in the bulk 

optical characteristics is observed compared with Cd1-xMnxTe, suggesting that the CdCl2

treatment may be effective for Cd1-xMgxTe PV devices. Dielectric functions of as-deposited and 

CdCl2 treated samples over the energy range of 3.0 ~ 6.0 eV are shown in Figure 6.8. For these 

measurements, the films were previously etched using many steps, each consisting of brief 

immersion in a 0.04 volume % Br2 in methanol solution. The original intent of this process was 

to remove oxides that develop on as-deposited and CdCl2-treated CdTe films due to their 

exposure to the laboratory and treatment ambients. Interestingly, it has been found that 

successive etching steps lead to a significant step-wise smoothening of the film surface 

simultaneously with decreasing bulk layer thickness due to step-wise film dissolution. In fact, a 

roughness layer of thickness of up to a micron or more can be eliminated in several successive 

etching steps, and ultimate stabilization of the roughness thickness at ~20-40 Å can be observed. 

It is under stable, smooth-surface conditions that the measurements of Figure 6.8 are made. 

Under these conditions, the dielectric function deduced from the measured ellipsometry spectra 

is reasonably representative of the true dielectric function, enabling determination of the critical 

point energies and widths by dielectric function fitting. It is known that the etching treatments 

lead to a Te-rich surface layer (~10 Å); however, its effect is expected to be smaller than that of 

the residual roughness and has been neglected in this study. 

Figure 6.8(a) compares the dielectric function of Br2/methanol-etched Cd1-xMgxTe in the 

as-deposited (left) and CdCl2-treated (right) states. The results may differ somewhat from the 

true dielectric function due to the presence of the residual roughness and a Te-rich surface layer. 

This Cd1-xMgxTe film was sputter-deposited to a thickness of 0.18 μm on a soda-lime glass slide. 

The key observation in the comparison of the panels of Figure 6.8(a) is that the critical points E1, 

E1+Δ1, and E2 are observed at similar energy positions in both sample states (any observed shifts 

being due to incomplete accounting of surface effects), and in fact become sharper upon CdCl2

treatment. This is an indication that the composition of the film is retained upon treatment and 

that the crystalline grain size increases, as well. For comparison, Figure 6.8(b) shows the 

corresponding results for CdTe (i.e., with no alloying), in which case similar behavior is 

observed. In contrast, for Cd1-xMnxTe in Figure 6.8(c), the CdCl2 treatment leads to a complete 

loss of the critical point structures and these cannot be recovered by continued etching. This 

demonstrates that the treatment leads to a significant chemical modification of the Cd1-xMnxTe 

film that can account for its poor performance when incorporated into actual devices. The fact 

that the Cd1-xMgxTe does not experience such a modification upon CdCl2 treatment and retains 

the band structure characteristics of the as-deposited film (along with a significant increase in 

grain size) demonstrated promise for the development of devices from this material. 

Quantitative information can be obtained from fits to the pseudo-dielectric functions of 

Figure 6.8 which provide the energy positions and widths of the dielectric function peaks. These 

results are given in Figure 6.8 as the solid lines for all films except for the CdCl2-treated Cd1-

xMnxTe in which case the critical point structure is lost. The critical point parameters including 

the energy positions Ej and widths Γj are presented in Table 6.1. Among the key observations of 

Table 6.1 include: 

(i) retention of the critical point structure for Cd1-xMgxTe upon CdCl2 treatment without a 

significant change in the energy positions (in consideration of surface variations), indicating 

success of alloying in the CdCl2-treated films; 

(ii) reduction of the critical point transition widths upon CdCl2 treatment for the CdTe 

32
(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

Figure 6.8 Pseudo-dielectric functions, i.e., optical properties deduced without complete 

correction of surface effects, for as-deposited and CdCl2-treated films as obtained by 

SE after Br2/methanol etching to improve the surface quality (points); (a) Cd1-

xMgxTe; (b) CdTe; (c) Cd1-xMnxTe; the solid lines show the results of fits to extract 

critical point energies and widths. 

33
and Cd1-xMgxTe, an indication of an increase in grain size or a reduction in defect density; 

(iii) increase of the critical point transition widths for the as-deposited alloys compared 

with the as-deposited CdTe, possibly due to a smaller grain size in the as-deposited alloy films; 

and 

(iv) similar critical point widths for the CdCl2-treated CdTe and Cd1-xMgxTe, indicating 

the effectiveness of the treatment in improving the alloy. 

Table 6.1. Parameters obtained in the fits to the dielectric functions of Figure 6.8. 

CdTe 

as-dep. 

CdTe 

CdCl2-treat. 

Cd1-xMgxTe 

as-dep. 

Cd1-xMgxTe 

CdCl2-treat. 

Cd1-xMnxTe 

as-dep. 

Cd1-xMnxTe

CdCl2-treat. 

E0 (eV) 1.497 1.499 1.615 1.633 1.548 --- 

E1 (eV) 3.274 3.331 3.354 3.303 3.363 --- 

Γ(Ε1) (eV) 0.411 0.200 0.480 0.216 0.430 --- 

E1+Δ1 (eV) 3.844 3.883 3.901 3.878 3.914 --- 

Γ(E1+Δ1) (eV) 0.484 0.368 0.520 0.309 0.483 --- 

E2 (eV) 5.193 5.208 5.179 5.197 5.182 --- 

Γ(E2) (eV) 0.993 0.796 1.252 0.879 1.215 --- 

Furthermore, two additional Cd1-xMgxTe samples prepared by magnetron sputtering from 

alloy targets were studied in detail by ex situ SE. The goal of this study was to compare films 

prepared with low Mg content and band gaps in the range Eg = 1.60 - 1.65 eV with those 

prepared at much higher Mg content. This comparison was performed on as-deposited films 

without CdCl2 treatment. 

• For the comparison sample (CGT42), the target was CdTe (80 wt.%) + MgTe (20 wt.%), 

and Cd1-xMgxTe deposition was performed on a soda lime glass substrate at a temperature 

of 200°C using 50 W RF power at the target, 20 mTorr Ar pressure, and 30 sccm Ar 

flow. The deposition time was 2 hours, and the Cd1-xMgxTe film thickness was ~ 0.3 μm. 

• For the higher Mg content sample (CGT92), the target was CdTe (60 wt.%) + MgTe (40 

wt.%), and Cd1-xMgxTe deposition was performed on an aluminosilicate glass substrate at 

a temperature of 290°C using 50 W RF power at the target, 5 mTorr Ar pressure, and 30 

sccm Ar flow. The deposition time was 6 hours, and the Cd1-xMgxTe film thickness was 

~ 2.9 μm. 

The spectroscopic ellipsometry was performed on these two samples at angles of 

incidence of 60° and 65°, respectively. The photon energy range of the instrument is 0.74~6.50 

eV. A two-layer surface-roughness/bulk model for the film was used to analyze the 

experimental data (ψ, Δ). The dielectric function of the bulk layer was modeled on the basis of 

the analytical formula 

ε = Σj [Ajexp(iφj)]*[Γj

/(2Ej − 2E − iΓj)]μj

, 

where the oscillators labeled j = 1, 2, 3, 4, 

34
correspond to the E0 (band gap), E1, E1+Δ1, and E2 critical point transitions and j=5 corresponds 

to a broad background oscillator. Each oscillator has five free parameters: amplitude Aj, energy 

Ej, width Γj, phase φj, and exponent μj. In this analysis, the focus is on the critical point energies 

Ej and the width Γ0 of the lowest band gap critical point. 

01234567

-4

0

4

8

12

<ε2>

<ε1

>

<ε1, ε2

>

Photon Energy (eV)

CdMgTe 42

db = 2908 Å

glass

CdMgTe

roughness ds

 = 94 Å

ambient

Figure 6.9. Pseudo-dielectric function obtained directly from experimental (ψ, Δ) data using a 

single interface conversion formula for a Cd1-xMgxTe sample prepared from a target 

of CdTe (80 wt.%) + MgTe (20 wt.%) (CGT42). The straight line describes 

experimental data and the dashed line describes the best fit result. 

01234567

0

4

8

CdMgTe 42

ε2

ε

1

ε

1, ε2

Photon Energy (eV)

E0 = 1.71 eV , ΓE0 = 0.13 eV

Figure 6.10. Best fit analytical dielectric function obtained from an analysis of the experimental 

(ψ, Δ) data for a Cd1-xMgxTe sample prepared from a target of CdTe (80 wt.%) + 

MgTe (20 wt.%) (CGT42). 

35
The energies provide information on the band gaps, alloying, and strain, and the width of 

the E0 critical point provides information on defects, grain size, and disorder. Figure 6.9 shows 

the pseudo-dielectric function data for the lower Mg content Cd1-xMgxTe sample (CGT42) and 

the best fit to these data. Figure 6.10 shows the true dielectric function of this Cd1-xMgxTe film 

which is extracted in the best fit. The deduced band gap, 1.71 eV, is wider than that of the 

previous sample due to the preparation procedure, and the broadening parameter is 0.13 eV. 

This band gap corresponds to a composition of x = 0.15 using the relationship established 

previously. Optical transmission spectroscopy yielded a band gap value in agreement with the 

SE result. 

Figures 6.11 and 6.12 show the results for the higher Mg content sample (CGT92). The 

band gap of this film is 1.98 eV, and the broadening parameter is 0.16 eV. The band gap 

corresponds to a composition of x = 0.30, indicating a linear relationship between film and target 

composition for the two samples. 

0123456 7

0

4

8

CdMgTe 92

<ε2>

<ε1

>

< ε1, ε2 >

Photon Energy (eV)

db = 28887 Å

glass

CdMgTe

roughness ds

 = 137 Å

ambient

Figure 6.11. Pseudo-dielectric function obtained directly from experimental (ψ, Δ) data using a 

single interface conversion formula for a Cd1-xMgxTe sample prepared from a target 

of CdTe (60 wt.%) + MgTe (40 wt.%) (CGT92). The straight line describes 

experimental data and the dashed line describes the best fit result. 

 Table 6.2 shows the values of the fundamental gap energy E0 and its width, as well as the 

energies of the higher energy critical points E1, E1+Δ1, E2, for the two Cd1-xMgxTe samples. 

Also shown for comparison are the corresponding results for pure CdTe before and after the 

CdCl2 treatment. (Note that the shifts in the energies of critical points upon CdCl2 treatment for 

CdTe are due to relaxation of strain and the narrowing of the E0 peak is due to an increase in 

grain size.) It is clear that the E0 band gap increases as the target alloy composition increases; 

the use of 20 wt.% MgTe in the target does not lead to significant broadening of the E0 transition 

relative to pure untreated CdTe. However, 40 wt.% MgTe leads to a significant broadening 

effect as a result of either a smaller grain size or increased disorder in the film due to alloying. 

The non-monotonic behavior observed in the E1 and E1+Δ1 higher energy gaps with alloying are 

likely to be due to changes in electronic structure as well as strain in the films. 

36
01234567

0

4

8

ε

2

ε1

ε1, ε2

Photon Energy (eV)

E0 = 1.98 eV, ΓE0 = 0.16 eV CdMgTe 92

Figure 6.12 Best fit analytical dielectric function obtained from an analysis of the experimental 

(ψ, Δ) data for a Cd1-xMgxTe sample prepared from a target of CdTe (60 wt.%) + 

MgTe (40 wt.%) (CGT92). 

Table 6.2. Critical point energies and E0 gap broadening for two Cd1-xMgxTe alloys from 

spectroscopic ellipsometry. 

CdTe 

CdCl2-treat. 

CdTe 

untreated 

Cd1-xMgxTe

42 

(20 wt.% MgTe) 

Cd1-xMgxTe 

92 

(40 wt.% MgTe) 

E0 (eV) 1.476 1.529 1.710 1.983 

Γ(E0) (eV) 0.045 0.130 0.128 0.161 

E1 (eV) 3.309 3.195 3.567 3.479 

E1+Δ1 (eV) 3.888 4.025 3.725 3.816 

E2 (eV) 5.163 5.260 5.175 5.143 

6.1.3 Bottom cell material: HgxCd1-xTe 

6.1.3.1 HgxCd1-xTe films preparation 

Efforts have also focused on the optical characterization of as-deposited HgxCd1-xTe 

films grown at different substrate temperatures for use as a bottom cell absorber material. The 

HgxCd1-xTe films were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering on 1 mm thick soda-lime glass, 

using a sputtering target containing 40 weight % of Hg, i.e. HgTe (40 wt.%) + CdTe (60 wt.%). 

Films were grown at different temperatures, including 23°C, 44°C, 70°C, 85°C, 97°C, and 

153°C. Optical characterization was performed in order to determine the variation of band gap 

with substrate temperature. In addition, CdCl2 post-deposition treatments were performed on the 

HgxCd1-xTe films. The deposition temperature of interest is on the order of 100°C. The higher 

temperature of the post-deposition process has been shown in CdTe to increase the grain size and 

thus improve the efficiency of the cells. Two stages were explored; an anneal was carried out in 

37
an inert gas at 387°C and then a CdCl2 vapor treatment at the same temperature. Ex situ 

spectroscopic ellipsometry data were acquired on as-deposited and CdCl2-treated HgxCd1-xTe 

films before and after Br2/methanol etching. 

6.1.3.2 Data analysis and results 

Figure 6.13 shows the band gap of HgxCd1-xTe films in the as-deposited state for different 

substrate temperatures, while Figure 6.14 shows the dielectric functions from the inversion 

process and from the corresponding analytical model fit. All films were deposited at an Ar 

pressure of 10 mTorr and an RF power of 27 W. 

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

Bandgap (eV)

Substrate Temperature (°C)

Figure 6.13. Band gaps of as-deposited HgxCd1-x Te films with substrate temperatures from 

23°C to 155°C; the deposition pressure was 10 mTorr and the RF power was 27 W. 

Figures 6.13 and 6.14 show the band gaps and dielectric functions for the HgxCd1-xTe 

alloy films prepared as a function of temperature. For the dielectric function, results are 

presented that have been obtained both by inversion of the (ψ, Δ) data and by fitting assuming an 

analytical model. The agreement between the two methods supports the validity of the 

functional form of the analytical model. Figure 6.13 shows that the band gap decreases abruptly 

at a substrate temperature of about 75°C. At low temperatures the deposited films are consistent 

with nanocrystalline CdTe of band gap of ~1.5 eV. It is possible that nanoscale Hg inclusions 

exist, giving rise to a broad plasmon resonance. The semiconductor component of the films 

grown at lower temperatures, i.e. at room temperature, 44°C, 70°C, 87°C and 97°C, must have 

large number of grain boundaries leading to extremely small grain size in accordance with the 

wide broadening values, and hence nearly amorphous films. In the film prepared at the highest 

temperature of 153°C, semiconducting HgxCd1-xTe with x~0.4 appears to have been obtained 

with a larger grain size. These trends are confirmed by XRD measurements and films grown at 

85°C and 97°C appear to have small grains coalesced to form larger grains with diffused grain 

boundaries. 

38
 

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

e1,e2

eV

Ts = 23°C

Eg = 1.58 eV

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

e1,e2

eV

Ts = 44°C

Eg = 1.51 eV

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

e1,e2

eV

Ts = 70°C

Eg = 1.53 eV

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

e1,e2

eV

Ts = 85°C

Eg = 0.68 eV

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

e1,e2

eV

Ts = 97°C

Eg = 0.5 eV

01234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

e1,e2

eV

 g.o. fit inversion

 inversion

Ts = 153°C

Eg = 0.67 eV

Figures. 6.14 Dielectric functions from the inversion process and from the corresponding analytical 

model fit for as-deposited HgxCd1-xTe films prepared with different substrate temperatures. 

Figure 6.15 presents a comparison of the pseudo-dielectric functions of as-deposited and 

CdCl2 treated HgxCd1-xTe films, including the results without and with an etching step. The key 

observations of Figure 6.15 shows include (i) the blue shift of the critical energy point positons 

for HgxCd1-xTe upon CdCl2 treatment, indicating the loss of Hg content in the alloy film after the 

treatment; (ii) reduction of the critical point transition widths upon CdCl2 treatment for the 

HgxCd1-xTe, an indication of an increase in grain size or a reduction in defect density. This postdeposition treatment has proved to be the most challenging aspect of HgxCd1-xTe and other alloy 

39
film preparation and further work is needed to optimize these processes specifically for the 

alloys. 

0

Figure 6.15. Comparison of the pseudo-dielectric function of as-deposited and CdCl2 treated 

Hg1-xCdxTe films, including results before and after a Br2/methanol etching step. 

1234567

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

<ε1

>

Photon energy (eV)

 As developed 

 As developed 1st etching

 CdCl2 treated

 CdCl2 treated1st etching

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

01234567

<ε2

>

Photon energy (eV)

 As developed 

 As developed 1st etching

 CdCl2 treated

 CdCl2 treated1st etching

E1 E1

+Δ1 E2

E1 E1

+Δ1 E2

CdHgTe energy critical points show blue shift after 

CdCl2 treated

40
7. Studies with collaborators 

 7.1 X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of CdMgTe (Heske/Weinhardt, University of 

Nevada Las Vegas) 

During Phase III we collaborated with the group of Prof. Clemens Heske of UNLV for 

XPS studies of polycrystalline films prepared following the procedures used for cell fabrication. 

Thus we prepared a series of thin films to study the window / main junction interfaces. This 

involved standard alkaline soap cleaning of the Pilkington Tec-15 substrates on 3 mm soda-lime 

glass. Magnetron sputter deposition of the CdS layer on Tec-15 was carried out following 

standard procedures in a turbo-pumped stainless steel cross chamber with tantalum wire radiative 

heating of the Tec-15. The chamber base pressure was 5 x 10-7 Torr and 2 x 10-6 Torr during 

substrate heating. The sample was then transferred in air to the adjacent cryo-pumped deposition 

chamber with tungsten-halogen lamp substrate heating for the sputter deposition of CdMgTe. 

The base pressure of the second deposition chamber was 1.2 x 10-7 T and 8 x 10-7 T during lamp 

heating of the substrate. Sputter deposition was carried out in Ar of 5N purity for both the CdS 

and CdMgTe. The samples used in this study were: 

• cleaned Tec-15 

• Tec-15/CdS (130 nm) 

• Tec-15/CdS/CdMgTe (1 nm) 

• Tec-15/CdS/CdMgTe (3 nm) 

• Tec-15/CdS/CdMgTe (5 nm), and 

• Tec-15/CdS/CdMgTe (50 nm). 

The objective of this study was to obtain information on band lineups for the system 

CdS/CdMgTe. Unfortunately, no reliable information could be obtained because of 

contamination from unexpected elements in the spectra. 

Cd 3d

Cd MNN

C 1s

O 1s

Te MNN Te 3d

S 2s S 2p

1000 800 600 400 200 0

50nm CdMgTe/CdS

5nm CdMgTe/CdS

3nm CdMgTe/CdS

Normalized Intensity

1nm CdMgTe/CdS

Binding Energy (eV)

XPS

Mg Kα

CdS

Cd 3d

Cd MNN

C 1s

O 1s

Te MNN Te 3d

S 2s S 2p

1000 800 600 400 200 0

50nm CdMgTe/CdS

5nm CdMgTe/CdS

3nm CdMgTe/CdS

Normalized Intensity

1nm CdMgTe/CdS

Binding Energy (eV)

XPS

Mg Kα

CdS

Figure 7.1 XPS spectra of sputtered thin films on commercial tin-oxide coated soda-lime glass. 

The CdS thickness was 130 nm in all cases. 

41
S 2p

Cd 4d

Te 4d Cd 4s

Cd 4p

Mg 2p

Mg 2s

Al 2p Al 2s

Si 2s Si 2p

160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Mg 2p

Normalized Intensity

Binding Energy (eV)

50nm CdMgTe/CdS

5nm CdMgTe/CdS

3nm CdMgTe/CdS

1nm CdMgTe/CdS

CdS

S 2p

Cd 4d

Te 4d Cd 4s

Cd 4p

Mg 2s

Al 2p Al 2s

Si 2s Si 2p

160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

Normalized Intensity

Binding Energy (eV)

50nm CdMgTe/CdS

5nm CdMgTe/CdS

3nm CdMgTe/CdS

1nm CdMgTe/CdS

CdS

Figure 7.2 Low binding energy region of XPS spectra of Figure 7.1.

7.2 Thin CdTe as a top cell (filter) over a Si wafer (Rohatgi/Yelundur, Georgia Tech) 

Although not a polycrystalline thin film material, crystalline or multicrystalline Si has an 

appropriate band gap for a bottom cell in a two-junction tandem. In order to explore the 

suitability of thin CdTe as a top cell with Si as a bottom cell, we supplied Vijay Yelundur with 

three plates having the following structure: 

• Aluminum silicate glass (ASG) 1 mm thick 

• ASG/ZnO:Al (~0.5 μm) 

• ASG/ZnO:Al/CdS (0.13 μm) / CdTe (1.0μm). 

The last plate was a complete solar cell except for the back contact. With carefully chosen 

thicknesses for a back contact of (e.g.) ZnTe:N/ITO, it is possible to increase the optical 

transmission of the structure by reducing the reflection at the CdTe/air interface. This reflective 

loss is about 30%. Nevertheless, the use of these structures as filters above the Si wafer provides 

a insight into some of the practical issues that might arise especially with a four-terminal tandem 

device. 

Table 7.1 Si cell response uncovered and with three different filters structures. 

Area (cm2) Voc (V) Isc (A) Jsc (mA/cm2) FF (%) Eff (%) 

b3-4 4 0.6278 0.137 34.3 78.6 16.9 

b3-4glass 4 0.6253 0.128 31.9 78.7 15.7 

b3-4TCO 4 0.6228 0.117 29.2 78.7 14.3 

b3-4CdTe 4 0.5823 0.027 6.7 77.5 3.0 

42
External QE

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200

Wavelength (nm)

External QE (%)

Si cell

under glass

under TCO coated glass

under CdTe/TCO coated glass

Figure 7.3 External spectral quantum efficiency for a Si cell unfiltered (blue), under 1mm 

ASG (red), ZnO:Al-coated ASG (purple), and CdTe/CdS/ZnO:Al/ASG (green). 

43
44

References (from section 1 through 7)

1 J.M. Hartman, J. Cibert, F. Kany, H. Mariette, M. Charleux, P. Alleysson, R. Langer, G. 

Feuillet, J. Appl. Phys., 80(1996)6257-6265. 

2 A. Gupta, V. Parikh, and A. D. Compaan, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 90, 2263 

(2006). 

3 A. Gupta and A. D. Compaan, Applied Physics Letters, 85, 684 (2004). 

4 J. Chen, J. Li, D. Sainju, K.D. Wells, N.J. Podraza, and R.W. Collins, Proc. 4th World 

Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, (IEEE, Piscataway NJ, 2006), p. 475. 

5 S. Marsillac, V.Y. Parikh, and A.D. Compaan, Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 91, 1398 

(2007). 

6 D. E. Aspnes, Handbook on Semiconductors, (North-Holland, Amsterdam), 2, 126 (1980). 

7 O. Castaing, J. T. Benhlal, R. Granger, and R. Triboulet, J. Cryst. Growth 159, 1112 (1996). 

8 Y. H. Hwang et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 40, 5247 (2001). 

9 P. Lautenschlager, S. Logothetidis, L. Vina, and M. Cardona, Phys. Rev. B 32, 3811 (1985). 
8 Publications 

8.1 Refereed papers published or in press 

1. “Sputtered Cd1-xZnxTe Films for Top Junctions in Tandem Solar Cells” Sung Hyun Lee, 

Akhlesh Gupta, ShanLi Wang, Alvin D. Compaan and Brian E. McCandless, Solar 

Energy Materials and Solar Cells (in press) 

2. “All sputtered 14% CdS/CdTe thin-film solar cell with ZnO:Al transparent conducting 

oxide,” Akhlesh Gupta and Alvin D. Compaan, Applied Physics Letters, 85 (2004) 684. 

3. “High efficiency, magnetron sputtered CdS/CdTe solar cells,” A.D. Compaan, A. Gupta, 

S.H. Lee, S. Wang and J. Drayton, Solar Energy, 77 (2004) 815-822. 

4. “14% sputtered thin-film solar cells based on CdTe,” A.D. Compaan, A. Gupta, J. 

Drayton, S-H Lee, S. Wang, Physica Status Solidi (b), 241 (2004) 779-782. 

5. “Polycrystalline sputtered Cd(Zn, Mn)Te films for top cells in PV tandem structures,” 

Sung Hyun Lee, Akhlesh Gupta and Alvin D. Compaan, Physica Status Solidi (c), 1(4) 

(2004) 1042-1046. 

6. “RF sputtered HgCdTe films for tandem cell applications” S.L.Wang, S.H.Lee, A.Gupta, 

and A.D.Compaan, Physica Status Solidi (c), 1(4) (2004) 1046-1049. 

7. S.H. Lee, A. Gupta, SL Wang, A.D. Compaan, and B. McCandless, “Sputtered CdZnTe 

films for to junctions in tandem solar cells,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 86, 

551-563 (2005).

8. A. Gupta and A.D. Compaan, “High efficiency 1 micron thick sputtered CdTe solar 

cells,” Proc. 31st IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference-2005, 235-238, IEEE 

Piscataway, N.J. 2005. 

9. V.Y. Parikh, J. Drayton, S.L. Wang, A. Gupta, and A.D. Compaan, “Polycrystalline thinfilm tandem solar cells cascaded by ZnTe/ZnO interconnects,” Proc. 31st IEEE 

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference-2005, 430-433, IEEE Piscataway, N.J. 2005. 

10. S.L. Wang, J. Li, J. Chen, R.W. Collins, A.D. Compaan, “Spectroscopic ellipsometry and 

atomic force microscopy studies of RF sputtered CdMnTe films,” Proc. 31st IEEE 

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference-2005, 480-483, IEEE Piscataway, N.J. 2005. 

11. Alvin Compaan, “Photovoltaics: clean electricity for the 21st century,” APS News, April 

2005, p. 6. [available on line at http://www.aps.org/apsnews/0405/040514.cfm] 

12. S. Wang, J. Chen, J. Li, A. Gupta, R.W. Collins, and A.D. Compaan, “Ellipsometry 

studies of CdCl2 treated CdTe and related ternary alloy films for solar cell applications,” 

Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 865, F5.29 (2005). 

45
13. D. Shvydka, V. Parikh, V.G. Karpov, and A.D. Compaan, “Spatial and temporal 

variations in electronic transport through a CdTe-based Schottky barrier,”Mater. Res. 

Soc. Symp. Proc. 865, F12.2 (2005). 

14. A. Gupta and A.D. Compaan, “High efficiency, 0.8 micron CdS/CdTe solar cells,” Mater. 

Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 865, F14.33 (2005). 

15. A.D. Compaan, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, “Photovoltaics: clean power for 

the 21st century” (in press). 

16. Akhlesh Gupta, Viral Parikh, Alvin D. Compaan, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells, 

“High efficiency ultra-thin sputtered CdTe solar cells” (in press) V. Parikh, A. Vasko, 

A.D. Compaan, and S.X. Marsillac, “Transparent Back Contacts in CdTe/CdS: 

Evaluation for Tandem Cells,” Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1012, Y2.8 (2007). 

17. Viral Y. Parikh, S. Marsillac, R.W. Collins, Jie Chen, A.D. Compaan, “Hg1-xCdxTe as 

the Bottom Cell Material in Tandem II-VI Solar Cells ,” Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 

1012, Y12.37 (2007). 

18. Xavier Mathew, A. Vasko, J. Drayton, and A. Compaan, “Development of a Wide Band 

Gap Cd1-xMgxTe Film for Applications in Tandem Devices,” Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. 

Proc. 1012, Y2.5 (2007). 

19. X. Mathew, J. Drayton, V. Parikh, and A.D. Compaan, “Sputtered Cd1-xMgxTe Films 

for Top Cells in Tandem Devices,” 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on Photovoltaic 

Energy Conversion-Proceedings (IEEE Piscataway, N.J. 2006) pp. 321-326. 

20. V. Y. Parikh, J. Chen, S.X. Marsillac, and A.D. Compaan, “Transparent back contacts 

and interconnect junctions for CdTe top cells,” 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on 

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion-Proceedings (IEEE Piscataway, N.J. 2006) pp. 321-326. 

21. Shanli Wang, Jian Li, Jie Chen, R. W. Collins, and A. D. Compaan, “Spectroscopic 

Ellipsometry and Atomic Force Microscopy Studies of rf Sputtered Cd1-xMnxTe Films”, 

31st IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Orlando FL, January 3-7, 2005 (IEEE, 

Piscataway NJ, 2005) pp. 480-483. 

22. N.J. Podraza, Chi Chen, D. Sainju, O. Ezekoye, M. W. Horn, C. R. Wronski, and R. W. 

Collins, “Transparent Conducting Oxide Sculptured Thin Films for Photovoltaic 

Applications”, Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 865, 273-278 (2005). 

23. J. Chen, J. Li, D. Sainju, K.D. Wells, N.J. Podraza, and R.W. Collins, “Multilayer 

Analysis of the CdTe Solar Cell Structure by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry”, Proc. 4th

World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, (IEEE, Piscataway NJ, 2006), p. 

475. 

24. Robert W. Collins, Alvin D. Compaan, Sylvain Marsillac, Anuja Parikh, Jie Chen, and 

46
Jian Li, "Optical Analysis of II-VI Alloys and Structures for Tandem PV" FY07 DOE 

Review (April 17-19, 2007). 

25. Jian Li, Jason A. Stoke, Nikolas J. Podraza, Deepak Sainju, Anuja Parikh, Xinmin Cao, 

Himal Khatri, Nicolas Barreau, Sylvain Marsillac, Xunming Deng, and Robert W. 

Collins, "Analysis and optimization of thin film photovoltaic materials and device 

fabrication by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry" Proceedings of Society of PhotoOptical Instrumentation Engineers (in press, August 29, 2007). 

 8.2 Poster or oral presentations published on CDROM or Web site 

1. “Preparation and characterization of monolithic HgCdTe/CdTe tandem cells,” S. L. Wang, 

J. Drayton, V. Parikh, A. Vasko, A. Gupta, and A.D. Compaan, Presented in MRS Fall 

Meeting, Boston, 29 Nov. – 4 Dec., 2004, L7.5. 

2. “Optical studies on chloride-treated RF sputtered CdMnTe films,” S. L.Wang, S. H. Lee, 

A. Gupta, and A.D.Compaan, Presented in MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, 29 Nov. – 4 Dec., 

2004, L5.39. 

3. “CdTe: How Thin Can It Be and How Does Chloride Activation Change grain 

Boundaries,” Alvin D. Compaan, Akhlesh Gupta and X. Liu, Presented in Solar Energy 

Technology Program Review Meeting, Denver, CO, Oct. 25-28, 2004. 

4. A.D. Compaan, R.W. Collins, D.M. Giolando, X. Mathew, S.L. Wang, V. Parikh, J. Chen, 

and J. Li, DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program FY2005 Annual Report 

(Proceedings, Program Review Meeting, Nov. 7-10, 2005, Denver, CO). 

5. A.D. Compaan, R.W. Collins, V. Parikh, X. Mathew, D. Giolando, S.X. Marsillac, Anuja 

Parikh, Jie Chen, & Jian Li, “Sputtered II-VI Alloys and Structures for Tandem PV,” 

DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Review/Peer Review Meeting, Denver, Apr 

17-19, 2007. Manuscript available 

at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/review_meeting/pdfs/p_17_compaan_univ_toledo.

pdf

47
9. Project personnel 

9.1 Research assistant professors 

 Akhlesh Gupta (Ph.D. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi)(50% time, 12/9/03—7/05) 

 

 Diana Shvydka (Ph.D., U. of Toledo, 5/2002) (50% time 12/9/03—10/30/06) 

9.2 Visiting Research Scholars 

 Xavier Mathew, on sabbatical from: Energy Research Center (CIE), UNAM, Apdo. P. 34, 

Temixco, Morelos, 62580, Mexico. (100% time 08/01/05- 07/31/06) 

9.3 Postdoctoral Associate 

 Shanli Wang (Ph.D. Shanghai Inst. Of Technical Physics, 1997)(50% time, 12/09/03—

6/05) 

 Jennifer Drayton, (1/1/06-12/31/06) 

 

 Snigdha Gupta (Ph.D. ) (100% time 2/07—7/30/07) 

 9.4 Graduate Students (Principal Advisor) 

 (Some students received support from other sources but made significant contributions to this 

work) 

 Viral Parikh (Compaan) 

M.S. and Ph.D. in progress 

 Jennifer Drayton (Compaan) 

 Ph.D. December 2005, “Studies of RF Sputtered ZnTe:N and CdS for Photovoltaic 

Applications” 

 Jie Chen (Collins) 

M.S. in progress 

 Jian Li (Collins) 

M.S. and Ph.D. in progress 

 Todd Osborn (Giolando) 

 M.S. 2005 

 9.5 Undergraduate students (advisor) 

• Levi Gorrell, Univ. of Toledo, Summer REU student 2004 (Karpov) 

• Molly Sauder, University of Toledo, senior project 05-06 “Spectroscopic Analysis of RF 

Sputtered CdMgTe Plasma” (Compaan) 

48
49

• Sheriff Ceesay, Wilberforce University, summer REU student 2005 “Looking for Trace 

Elements by Optical Spectroscopy during CdS/CdTe Deposition” (Compaan) 

• Mary Lin, Northwestern Univ., Summer REU student 2006, “Plasma Spectroscopy of RF 

Sputtering for CdS” (Compaan) 

• Jason D. Owens, Univ. of Toledo, Summer REU student 2006, “Data Management in the 

CdTe Development Process” (Compaan) 

• Craig McClellan, California University of Pennsylvania, summer REU student 2007, 

“Accelerated Degradation of CdTe Solar Cells with Differing Semiconductor Film 

Thicknesses” (Compaan) 

• Ryan Zeller, Univ. of Toledo, Summer REU student 2007, “Optical Thickness 

Monitoring System for High Vacuum Deposition” (Compaan) 

 9.6 Laboratory Technical Assistants 

 (provided occasional assistance but were not funded on this project) 

 Terry Kahle 

 Robert Burmeister 

 Troy Berchem 
F1146-E(09/2007) 

REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved 

OMB No. 0704-0188

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, 

gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this 

collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Executive Services and Communications Directorate (0704-0188). Respondents 

should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ORGANIZATION.

1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY)

September 2008 

2. REPORT TYPE

Subcontract Report 

3. DATES COVERED (From - To)

9 December 2003 – 30 July 2007 

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Sputtered II-VI Alloys and Structures for Tandem PV: 

Final Subcontract Report, 9 December 2003 – 30 July 2007 

5a. CONTRACT NUMBER

DE-AC36-99-GO10337 

5b. GRANT NUMBER

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

6. AUTHOR(S)

A.D. Compaan, R. Collins, V.G. Karpov, and D. Giolando 

5d. PROJECT NUMBER

NREL/SR-520-43954 

5e. TASK NUMBER

PVA72401 

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

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

Dept. of Physics and Astronomy 

The University of Toledo 

Toledo, Ohio 43606 

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

REPORT NUMBER

XAT-4-33624-06 

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 

11. SPONSORING/MONITORING

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

NREL/SR-520-43954 

12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

National Technical Information Service 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

NREL Technical Monitor: Fannie Eddy 

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 Words)

The major objectives of this subcontract were to explore, prepare, and test the candidate II-VI materials for top cells 

in two-junction devices with either monolithic two-terminal or mechanically stacked four-terminal structures. We 

developed two candidate alloys, CdMnTe, and CdMgTe by RF sputtering. The critical chloride treatments and related 

material studies revealed that CdMgTe is superior to CdMnTe. In the second year of this project, much of the effort 

was to develop the CdMgTe alloy. The goal of these efforts was to optimize the film deposition conditions and 

chloride treatments, and to identify the efficiency-limiting factors in a single-junction CdTe/CdS device that can lead 

to the goal of 25%-efficient tandem structures fabricated using polycrystalline thin films. The present report is the 

final report covering all three Phases. 

15. SUBJECT TERMS

PV; sputtering alloys; tandem structure; polycrystalline; thin films; deposition; structural property; quantum efficiency; 

device; II-VI alloys. 

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION 

OF ABSTRACT

UL 

18. NUMBER 

OF PAGES 

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON 

a. REPORT 

Unclassified 

b. ABSTRACT 

Unclassified

c. THIS PAGE 

Unclassified 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code)

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) 

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18