Monocrystalline CdTe/MgCdTe double-heterostructure solar cells with a ZnTe hole-contact and passivation layer

Monocrystalline p-ZnTe/i-MgCdTe/n-CdTe/n-MgCdTe double-heterostructure (DH) solar cells are grown through a combination of MBE and MOCVD deposition techniques using several different dopants. The adverse effects (high interface recombination velocity) of the lattice mismatched ZnTe/CdTe hetero-interface is suppressed by the use of a DH with an intrinsic MgCdTe top barrier layer that functions as a passivation layer. The steady-state photoluminescence intensity is used to compare the potential device performance with previous ZnTe/CdTe and a-Si/i-MgCdTe/CdTe device structures while quantum efficiency measurements demonstrate the benefit of using ZnTe over previously demonstrated contact layers.