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US 2025/0176280 A1Published application
Photovoltaic devices and methods of making
AssigneeFirst Solar, Inc.
InventorsDuyen Cao, Sachit Grover, James Hack, Chungho Lee, Dingyuan Lu, Gang Xiong
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Abstract
Photovoltaic devices with type II-VI semiconductor absorber materials having improved carrier extraction layers are described herein. Methods of treating semiconductor absorber layers and forming improved carrier extraction layers and p-type contact layers are described.
Claims25
A photovoltaic device comprising:
- an absorber layer on a substrate stack, the absorber layer comprising cadmium;
- a p-type contact layer formed over a back interface at a second surface of the absorber layer;
- and
- an improved carrier extraction (ICE) layer between the absorber layer and the p-type contact layer, wherein:
- the ICE layer is in contact with the back interface of the absorber layer,
- the ICE layer comprises sulfur in a deprotonated thiol compound, and
- a surface workfunction of the ICE layer on the absorber layer is tunable by selection of thiol compound over a 600 meV range as measured by Kelvin Probe measurements of surface workfunction.
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A method of making a photovoltaic device comprising:
- providing an absorber layer stack having an absorber layer comprising cadmium (Cd);
- passivating a surface region of the absorber layer to form a passivated surface at a second surface of the absorber layer;
- forming an improved carrier extraction (ICE) layer over the passivated surface, wherein:
- the ICE layer contacts the second surface of the absorber layer, and
- the ICE layer comprises sulfur in a deprotonated thiol compound;
- and
- forming a p-type contact layer over the ICE layer.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.