Staff View: Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate

Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate

The study used magnetron sputtering to investigate the growth of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films on surface treated n-type silicon (n-Si) substrates. The n-Si substrates were textured using potassium hydroxide (KOH) before the sputter deposition of CdTe. This was followed by cadmium chloride tre...

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Main Authors:	Isah M., Doroody C., Rahman K.S., Harif M.N., Kiong T.S., Zuhdi A.W.M.
Other Authors:	57219626175
Format:	Article
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 2024
Subjects:	CdCl<sub>2</sub> treatment CdTe CdTe/Si heterostructure Energy KOH texturization Lattice mismatch n-Si Photovoltaics Thermal mismatch
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spelling	my.uniten.dspace-340342024-10-14T11:17:43Z Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate Isah M. Doroody C. Rahman K.S. Harif M.N. Kiong T.S. Zuhdi A.W.M. 57219626175 56905467200 56348138800 22634024000 57216824752 56589966300 CdCl<sub>2</sub> treatment CdTe CdTe/Si heterostructure Energy KOH texturization Lattice mismatch n-Si Photovoltaics Thermal mismatch The study used magnetron sputtering to investigate the growth of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films on surface treated n-type silicon (n-Si) substrates. The n-Si substrates were textured using potassium hydroxide (KOH) before the sputter deposition of CdTe. This was followed by cadmium chloride treatment to reduce the strain at the interface of CdTe and Si, which is caused by the incompatible lattice and thermal expansion mismatch (CTE). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the lowest FWHM and dislocation densities were obtained for CdCl2/CdTe/txt-nSi, which aligns with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results. In the SEM images, the interface bonding between the CdTe and Si surfaces was visible in the cross-sections, and the top-view images revealed sputtered CdTe thin films conforming to the patterns of pyramidal textured Si as an engineered surface to capture more light to maximize absorption in the CdTe/Si tandem design. The Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results showed that all the CdTe deposited on textured n-Si exhibited more Te atoms than Cd atoms, irrespective of the CdCl2 treatment. The presented results suggest that the texturization and CdCl2 treatment improved the morphology and grain boundary passivation of the sputtered CdTe. The adhesiveness of CdTe on the n-Si substrate was also significantly enhanced. Our findings further demonstrate that proper surface treatment of the Si substrate can greatly improve the quality of CdTe grown on Si by reducing the strain that occurs during the growth process. This study demonstrates a valuable method for enhancing the integration of CdTe with Si for two-junction tandem solar cell applications. � 2023 The Authors Final 2024-10-14T03:17:43Z 2024-10-14T03:17:43Z 2023 Article 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21536 2-s2.0-85175331621 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85175331621&doi=10.1016%2fj.heliyon.2023.e21536&partnerID=40&md5=cb9848c1d8247ed5c1512cd93159e252 https://irepository.uniten.edu.my/handle/123456789/34034 9 11 e21536 All Open Access Gold Open Access Elsevier Ltd Scopus
institution	Universiti Tenaga Nasional
building	UNITEN Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Tenaga Nasional
content_source	UNITEN Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://dspace.uniten.edu.my/
topic	CdCl<sub>2</sub> treatment CdTe CdTe/Si heterostructure Energy KOH texturization Lattice mismatch n-Si Photovoltaics Thermal mismatch
spellingShingle	CdCl<sub>2</sub> treatment CdTe CdTe/Si heterostructure Energy KOH texturization Lattice mismatch n-Si Photovoltaics Thermal mismatch Isah M. Doroody C. Rahman K.S. Harif M.N. Kiong T.S. Zuhdi A.W.M. Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
description	The study used magnetron sputtering to investigate the growth of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films on surface treated n-type silicon (n-Si) substrates. The n-Si substrates were textured using potassium hydroxide (KOH) before the sputter deposition of CdTe. This was followed by cadmium chloride treatment to reduce the strain at the interface of CdTe and Si, which is caused by the incompatible lattice and thermal expansion mismatch (CTE). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the lowest FWHM and dislocation densities were obtained for CdCl2/CdTe/txt-nSi, which aligns with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results. In the SEM images, the interface bonding between the CdTe and Si surfaces was visible in the cross-sections, and the top-view images revealed sputtered CdTe thin films conforming to the patterns of pyramidal textured Si as an engineered surface to capture more light to maximize absorption in the CdTe/Si tandem design. The Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results showed that all the CdTe deposited on textured n-Si exhibited more Te atoms than Cd atoms, irrespective of the CdCl2 treatment. The presented results suggest that the texturization and CdCl2 treatment improved the morphology and grain boundary passivation of the sputtered CdTe. The adhesiveness of CdTe on the n-Si substrate was also significantly enhanced. Our findings further demonstrate that proper surface treatment of the Si substrate can greatly improve the quality of CdTe grown on Si by reducing the strain that occurs during the growth process. This study demonstrates a valuable method for enhancing the integration of CdTe with Si for two-junction tandem solar cell applications. � 2023 The Authors
author2	57219626175
author_facet	57219626175 Isah M. Doroody C. Rahman K.S. Harif M.N. Kiong T.S. Zuhdi A.W.M.
format	Article
author	Isah M. Doroody C. Rahman K.S. Harif M.N. Kiong T.S. Zuhdi A.W.M.
author_sort	Isah M.
title	Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
title_short	Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
title_full	Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
title_fullStr	Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
title_full_unstemmed	Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate
title_sort	lattice mismatch alleviation in p-cdte/n-si heterostructure by surface engineering on si substrate
publisher	Elsevier Ltd
publishDate	2024
_version_	1814060053573926912
score	13.222552

Lattice mismatch alleviation in p-CdTe/n-Si heterostructure by surface engineering on Si substrate

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