Decoupling grain-boundary, grain-interior, and surface recombination with cathodoluminescence

In this work, we combine quantitative cathodoluminescence (CL) with time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and numerical simulations to determine grain-boundary, grain-interior, and surface recombination parameters in standard CdTe thin films. CL intensities from thousands of grains are analyzed to accumulate statistics and chart variations with grain size. Grain-boundary contrast results for small grains indicate that the grain-boundary recombination velocity, S
_GB
, decreases significantly with CdCl
₂
treatment, but S
_GB
is increased by subsequent Cu-diffusion. Furthermore, within a given sample, data suggests that S
_GB
is nearly independent of grain size. The back-surface recombination velocity, S, is extracted from TRPL measurements incident on the back surface, and CL profiles are simulated to determine the grain-interior lifetime, τ
_GI
. Finally, CL intensity vs. grain size relationships are simulated to check for self-consistency of the S
_GB
, S, and τ
_GI
values.