A study of CdTe solar cells using Ga-doped MgxZn1-xO buffer/TCO layers: Simulation and performance analysis

Abstract

The effect of stacked Ga-doped MgxZn1−xO (GMZO) thin films being the n-partner buffer layer and of the transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer on the performance of CdTe thin film solar cells has been investigated. The diversity of the electrical and optical properties of GMZO films versus Ga and Mg doping concentrations suggested the use of low-Ga-doped MgxZn1−xO (LGMZO) films as a high resistance transparent buffer layer. Thus, a high-Ga-doped MgxZn1−xO (HGMZO) film is nominated as a transparent TCO layer. In this respect, a (n+)-HGMZO/(n)-LGMZO/(p)-CdTe/MoTe2/Mo suggested structure has been simulated using the Analysis of Microelectronic and Photonic Structures (AMPS-1D) software under the AM1.5G illumination and at a temperature of 300 K. The structure uses the molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) layer as a back surface between the CdTe absorber layer and the Mo back contact. The effect of the thickness and the carrier concentration of the LGMZO-buffer, and of the CdTe absorber layers on the CdTe cell performance was investigated. Keywords: CdTe solar cells, Thin films, Ga-doped MgxZn1−xO, AMPS-1D