THE USE OF LOW-TEMPERATURE CHEMIPLATING FOR FABRICATING CUXS/CDS SOLAR-CELLS

Low-temperature chemiplating has been explored as an alternative technique to conventional high-temperature chemiplating for the formation of the CuxS layer in polycrystalline CuxS/CdS solar cells. By forming the CuxS from CuCl solutions (of pH 4) at temperatures as low as 53 °C the CuxS is found to grow with much less penetration into the CdS grain boundaries than occurs for layers formed in solutions at 95 °C. After annealing in hydrogen, the more planar CuxSCdS junctions formed under these conditions have been shown to display photovoltaic characteristics comparable to those of conventionally prepared cells. A further reduction in the junction area has been achieved by forming the CuxS on unetched CdS films dipped in low-temperature solutions at pH 5. The characteristics of these near-planar devices, including an open-circuit voltage as high as 0.54 V, show a high degree of reproducibility. © 1990.