Effect of chemical treatment on the optical properties of a cadmium telluride photovoltaic device investigated by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Spectroscopic ellipsometry has been successfully used to characterize the CdS/CdTe heterojunction solar cell deposited on TEC15 glass. The effects of copper treatment 077 the optical properties of a cadmium chloride treated photovoltaic device were investigated using ellipsometry. No changes in either the band gaps or critical points of CdTe layer were noticed as a result of copper treatment. The copper treated CdTe laver exhibited a higher refractive index in the visible and longer wavelengths ([less than or equal to]3 eV), as compared with the untreated layer. This was attributed to the increased disorder in the case of copper treated laver. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3097282]