Rectification and tunneling effects enabled by Al2O3 atomic layer deposited on back contact of CdTe solar cells

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is employed to optimize the back contact of thin film CdTe solar cells. Al2O3 layers with a thickness of 0.5 nm to 5 nm are tested, and an improved efficiency, up to 12.1%, is found with the 1 nm Al2O3 deposition, compared with the efficiency of 10.7% without Al2O3 modification. The performance improvement stems from the surface modification that optimizes the rectification and tunneling of back contact. The current-voltage analysis indicates that the back contact with 1 nm Al2O3 maintains large tunneling leakage current and improves the filled factor of CdTe cells through the rectification effect. XPS and capacitance-voltage electrical measurement analysis show that the ALD-Al2O3 modification layer features a desired low-density of interface state of 8 × 1010 cm−2 by estimation.