Manufacture of N-type chalcogenide compositions and their uses in photovoltaic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9735301-B2
Application number	US-201314081641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2013
Priority date	Nov 5, 2009
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

A layer of an n-type chalcogenide compositions provided on a substrate in the presence of an oxidizing gas in an amount sufficient to provide a resistivity to the layer that is less than the resistivity a layer deposited under identical conditions but in the substantial absence of oxygen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A photovoltaic article comprising:
a substrate having a p-type absorber comprising a p-type photovoltaic composition, said p-type photovoltaic composition comprising a p-type chalcogenide comprising (i) one or more of copper, indium, and gallium; and (ii) at least one of sulfur and selenium; and
a layer of an n-type chalcogenide composition on the p-type absorber, wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition comprises at least one sulfide and/or at least one selenide that incorporates at least cadmium, and wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition is formed at a temperature in the range from 20° C. to 30° C. in an oxidizing atmosphere comprising an oxidizing gas and at least one other gas, wherein the oxidizing atmosphere has a pressure less than about 100 mTorr, and wherein the oxidizing gas is present in the oxidizing atmosphere in an amount such that the oxidizing gas comprises from about 0.001 mole % to about 0.7 mole % of the oxidizing atmosphere, and wherein the composition of the n-type chalcogenide composition formed has a resistivity less than the resistivity of an n-type chalcogenide composition formed in an otherwise identical process but in the substantial absence of the oxidizing gas; and
wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition has a resistivity of less than about 1×10 5 ohm-cm.

2. The article of claim 1 , wherein the n-type chalcogenide further comprises one or more constituents selected from Zn, In, and combinations thereof.

3. The article of claim 1 wherein the oxidizing atmosphere comprises from about 0.05 mole % to about 0.7 mole % of the oxidizing gas at a pressure of less than about 100 mTorr.

4. The article of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing atmosphere is at a pressure in the range of from about 5 to about 20 mTorr.

5. The article of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing atmosphere comprises from about 0.05 mole % to about 0.3 mole % of the oxidizing gas.

6. The article of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing atmosphere comprises from about 0.001 mole % to less than about 0.25 mole % of the oxidizing gas.

7. The article of claim 1 , wherein the partial pressure of the oxidizing gas in the oxidizing atmosphere is between about 0.005 to about 0.5 mTorr.

8. The article of claim 7 , wherein the partial pressure of the oxidizing gas in the oxidizing atmosphere is between about 0.005 to about 0.3 mTorr.

9. The article of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing gas is selected from oxygen, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and ozone.

10. The article of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other gas is selected from nitrogen, a noble gas, and combinations thereof.

11. The article of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing atmosphere comprises oxygen and a noble gas.

12. The article of claim 1 , wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition comprises cadmium and sulfur.

13. The article of claim 1 , wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition is in electrical contact with a surface of the p-type photovoltaic composition.

14. The article of claim 1 , wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition is formed by evaporation, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, or atomic layer deposition.

15. The article of claim 1 , wherein the n-type chalcogenide composition is formed by sputtering.

Assignees

• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Bryden Todd R
• Lemon Buford I
• George Joseph
• Ligman Feist Rebekah Kristine

Classifications

• H10P14/3442

  N-type · CPC title

• H10P14/3436

  being chalcogenide semiconductor materials not being oxides, e.g. ternary compounds · CPC title

• H10P14/3434

  being oxide semiconductor materials (Group IIB-VIA semiconductor materials H10P14/3424) · CPC title

• H01L31/03925

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L21/02576

  Electricity · mapped topic