Study of CdSx/Te/1-x/ solid solutions obtained by screen printing

Important progress has been reached in the elaboration of low cost solar cells based in CdS/CdTe heterostructures. This was accomplished by using different techniques such as chemical bath deposition, close space sublimation, electrodeposition and screen printing and sintering. In all these low cost techniques, at least a relatively high temperature step is necessary during the processing for the completion of the cell. Under these conditions, a CdS/sub x/Te/sub 1-x/ interfacial layer is formed which has great influence in the cell parameters and performance. In this work we present a study of the properties of this solution obtained in thin film form by screen printing and sintering technique. Optimal annealing conditions were found where the films were single phase and homogeneous. The samples were characterized by optical microscopy, talystep profiles, X-ray diffraction patterns, optical transmission and photoluminescence (PL) spectra.