First-principles study of the band gap tuning and doping control in CdSexTe1-x alloy for high efficiency solar cell

57Citations
Citations of this article
41Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

Abstract

CdTe is one of the leading materials for low cost, high efficiency thin-film solar cells with a nearly ideal band gap of 1.48 eV. However, its solar to electricity power conversion efficiency (PCE) is hindered by the relatively low open circuit voltage (VOC) due to intrinsic defect related issues. Here, we propose that alloying CdTe with CdSe could possibly improve the solar cell performance by reducing the "ideal" band gap of CdTe to gain more short-circuit current from long-wavelength absorption without sacrificing much VOC. Using the hybrid functional calculation, we find that the minimum band gap of the CdTe1-xSex alloy can be reduced from 1.48 eV at x = 0 to 1.39 eV at x = 0.32, and most of the change come from the lowering of the conduction band minimum. We also show that the formation of the alloy can improve the p-type doping of CuCd impurity based on the reduced effective formation energy and nearly constant effective transition energy level, thus possibly enhance VOC, thus PCE.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Yang, J., & Wei, S. H. (2019). First-principles study of the band gap tuning and doping control in CdSexTe1-x alloy for high efficiency solar cell. Chinese Physics B, 28(8). https://doi.org/10.1088/1674-1056/28/8/086106

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free