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Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells"

Published by National Laboratory of the Rockies | Department of Energy | Metadata Last Checked: February 28, 2026 | Last Modified: 2026-02-27T23:52:55Z
Back contacting p-type CdTe has been identified as one of the major areas of loss in CdTe photovoltaic (PV) power conversion efficiency (PCE).  In research settings, Au is a common contact material due to its ease of use and decent performance.  This work provides a detailed investigation into using gold for back contacting As-doped, CdCl2 treated, polycrystalline CdTe that has been exposed to air after absorber processing, another routine practice. First, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) is used to determine the native oxide to be 1.6 nm of CdTeO3 using a combination of angle-resolved XPS and the cadmium modified Auger parameter.  During gold metallization of CdTe, oxygen and oxidized tellurium are eliminated from the thin CdTeO3 native oxide.  The fate of the released oxygen and possibly cadmium and tellurium are not known, but these reaction byproducts can enter the absorber bulk or grain boundaries, stay at the interface, or dissolve in the Au.  Interfacial hole barriers between CdTe and Au are measured for samples with and without the native oxide present prior to metallization. Results show that the thin CdTeO3 alleviates the downward band bending by 40 meV from 470 meV to 430 meV even though it is consumed during interface formation.  The implications of these chemical reactions on the device are assessed through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy which shows losses in internal open circuit voltage (iVoc) from 820 meV to 795 meV, carrier lifetime from 123 ns to 45 ns, and PL quantum yield from 2.9x10-5 to 1.2x10-5.  Modeling time-resolved PL lifetimes demonstrates the back surface recombination velocity due to metallization reduces minority carrier lifetimes.  These results identify the native oxide and show that it plays an important role in mediating downward band bending along with how the back interface reaction can negatively impact device-scale parameters and reduce PV PCE. 

Resources

15 resources available

  • Figure 1 raw data includes the Te and Cd peaks of an air-exposed CdTe, the angle resolved XPS, and Cd Auger peak analysis.

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  • Raw data of the Au-CdTeO3-CdTe overlayer thickness series. Thicknesses include {0, 2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5} nm of Au on the air-exposed absorber

    5} NM OF AU ON THE AIR-EXPOSED ABSORBER
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  • This data set includes (1) clean CdTe UPS data with the He satellites removed (2) CdTe core levels with the UPS lamp on (3) air-exposed CdTe with no neutralizers on (3) as recieved CdTe with the neutralizers on (4) Clean CdTe + Au valence bands (5) air-exposed CdTe + Au valence bands (6) air-exposed CdTe + Au core levels (7) clean CdTe + Au core levels

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  • Raw data files of Figure 4 which includes the PL and TRPL of the absorber vs device and the excitation dependent lifetimes and PL intensities.

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  • Modeling data described by the manuscript section 2.4.

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  • Raw data for the analysis of the single crystal CdTeO3. Absorbance, Raman spectroscopy, and powder x-ray diffraction.

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  • Cd and Te 3d5/2 and XPS valence bands of the unpolished and polished absorbers.

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  • Experimental Cd 3d5/2 and Cd MNN Auger peaks for the absorber, single crystal CdTeO3, and single crystal Cd(Se_0.32)(Te_0.68).

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  • O1s spectra before and during metallization for {0, 2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5} nm Au on air exposed CdTeO3-CdTe

    5} NM AU ON AIR EXPOSED CDTEO3-CDTE
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  • Raw data during metallization of the Cd and Te 3d5/2 spectra. 2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 nm of Au.

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  • Photoemission spectroscopy performed to use the Kraut method described in the main text section 2.3. (a,b) Te 3d5/2 and Cd 3d5/2 respectively with excitations from XPS and UPS. (c) UPS valence band spectra.

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  • Cd and Te 3d5/2 with and without dual neutralizers on the sample.

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  • Raw XPS data used to determine the hole barriers in the CdTe-Au samples. Te 3d5/2 and XPS valence bands.

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  • Raw data of the calibration of the photoemission detector in 27 and 55 pass energy. Measuring the Cu 3/2 and Au 4f

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  • Raw data of the Te and Cd 3d5/2 XPS spectra for a CdTe surface that was metallized with 2nm of Au. The two data sets are with N2 exposure and then air exposure.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
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                                            [
  "019:20"
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contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "Ryan Muzzio",
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  "hasEmail": "mailto:Ryan.Muzzio@nlr.gov"
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dataQuality 
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description Back contacting p-type CdTe has been identified as one of the major areas of loss in CdTe photovoltaic (PV) power conversion efficiency (PCE).  In research settings, Au is a common contact material due to its ease of use and decent performance.  This work provides a detailed investigation into using gold for back contacting As-doped, CdCl2 treated, polycrystalline CdTe that has been exposed to air after absorber processing, another routine practice. First, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) is used to determine the native oxide to be 1.6 nm of CdTeO3 using a combination of angle-resolved XPS and the cadmium modified Auger parameter.  During gold metallization of CdTe, oxygen and oxidized tellurium are eliminated from the thin CdTeO3 native oxide.  The fate of the released oxygen and possibly cadmium and tellurium are not known, but these reaction byproducts can enter the absorber bulk or grain boundaries, stay at the interface, or dissolve in the Au.  Interfacial hole barriers between CdTe and Au are measured for samples with and without the native oxide present prior to metallization. Results show that the thin CdTeO3 alleviates the downward band bending by 40 meV from 470 meV to 430 meV even though it is consumed during interface formation.  The implications of these chemical reactions on the device are assessed through photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy which shows losses in internal open circuit voltage (iVoc) from 820 meV to 795 meV, carrier lifetime from 123 ns to 45 ns, and PL quantum yield from 2.9x10-5 to 1.2x10-5.  Modeling time-resolved PL lifetimes demonstrates the back surface recombination velocity due to metallization reduces minority carrier lifetimes.  These results identify the native oxide and show that it plays an important role in mediating downward band bending along with how the back interface reaction can negatively impact device-scale parameters and reduce PV PCE. 
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Figure 1 raw data includes the Te and Cd peaks of an air-exposed CdTe, the angle resolved XPS, and Cd Auger peak analysis.",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Raw data of the Au-CdTeO3-CdTe overlayer thickness series.  Thicknesses include {0, 2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5} nm of Au on the air-exposed absorber",
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  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "This data set includes (1) clean CdTe UPS data with the He satellites removed (2) CdTe core levels with the UPS lamp on (3) air-exposed CdTe with no neutralizers on (3) as recieved CdTe with the neutralizers on (4) Clean CdTe + Au valence bands (5) air-exposed CdTe + Au valence bands (6) air-exposed CdTe + Au core levels (7) clean CdTe + Au core levels",
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    "title": "Raw data during metallization of the Cd and Te 3d5/2 spectra.  2, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5 nm of Au.",
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    "title": "Raw data of the calibration of the photoemission detector in 27 and 55 pass energy.  Measuring the Cu 3/2 and Au 4f ",
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    "title": "Raw data of the Te and Cd 3d5/2 XPS spectra for a CdTe surface that was metallized with 2nm of Au.  The two data sets are with N2 exposure and then air exposure.  ",
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identifier https://data.openei.org/submissions/8635
issued 2026-02-27T23:47:38Z
keyword 
                                            [
  "Auger",
  "CdTe",
  "Photoluminesence",
  "metallization",
  "native oxide",
  "photoemission",
  "photovoltaic"
]
landingPage https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
modified 2026-02-27T23:52:55Z
programCode 
                                            [
  "019:009"
]
projectNumber 37989, 52778
projectTitle CdTe Photovoltaics Accelerator and Consortium Management, CdTe PV Research and Development Core Project
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "National Laboratory of the Rockies",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
title Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells"

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