Electro-optical characterization of n-CdS nanowires/p-CdTe heterojunction solar cell devices

Arrays of 100 nm long n-cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanowires were investigated as window layers for solar cells. These arrays exhibited enhanced transmission especially for wavelengths below 512 nm. Next, films of CdTe were deposited by CSS and the solar cell devices completed. I-V and C-V characteristics were measured in the temperature range of 100-300 °K. Analysis indicated that interface recombination and tunneling played dominant roles in electron transport across the heterojunction. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) nanowire cell to date had V
_oc
, J
_sc
, FF and PCE values of 766 mV, 25 mA/cm
²
, 58% and 11.1% respectively.