Atomistic Insights of Multiple Stacking Faults in CdTe Thin-Film Photovoltaics: A DFT Study

Stacking faults in CdTe were studied using DFT simulations. Twin and tetrahedral stacking fault energies are significantly lower than previously suggested, strongly correlating with their high density observed experimentally. No long range ordering was found for tetrahedral stacking faults while a resistance for polytype clustering was calculated. All experimentally observed faults were shown to be electronically benign when considered in isolation but increased density may produce shallow electron trap states.