Effect of the CdTe absorber layer’s thickness synthesized by the RF sputtering on the performance of CdTe photovoltaic windows

In this work, CdTe thin films were achieved through RF-sputtering at different deposition times (60, 120, 180, 240 min). The structural analysis showed CdTe thin films with cubic and hexagonal phases. In addition, a greater degree of crystallinity can be achieved as a function of the deposition time. SEM characterization indicated the contribution of well- formed and compact grains in the CdTe thin films. Optical properties led to a CdTe bandgap of 1.53 eV. The effects of thermal annealing treatment using CdCl
2
were also investigated. The maximum efficiency of 4.12% was achieved by optimizing the thickness of the CdTe layer deposited for 60 minutes. It was thermally annealed with CdCl
2
. The study highlights the importance of optimizing the deposition parameters and thermal annealing treatment to enhance the performance of CdTe solar cells, which could have significant implications for the development of low-cost, high-efficiency semitransparent solar cells.