Abstract
The photoelectrochemical solar cell properties of chemically deposited n-CdSe films were studied before and after Zn2+ surface modification. It was shown that the surface properties underwent conceivable changes after Zn2+ treatment. The current-voltage characteristics in the dark showed a significant decrease in reverse saturation current density, J 0, from 5.4×10−7 to 1.2×10−9 A cm−2 and in ideality factor, n, from 2.46 to 1.27. Under AM1 illumination, other parameters have been found to be considerably enchanced, e.g. the open-circuit photovoltage, V oc, increased from 0.53 to 0.85 V with respect to SCE; the short-circuit photocurrent density, J sc, from 2.62 to 8.35 mA cm−2; fill factor from 0.38 to 0.62 and the minority carrier diffusion length, L p, from 0.16 to 0.22 μm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data on the Zn2+-modified CdSe showed the formation of metallic Zn islets and a thin layer of SeO2 on the surface. All these important improvements of the CdSe PEC properties may be attributed to the redistribution of active interface states within the band gap due to strong interaction of the electrodepositive Zn2+ ions. Support for these observations were obtained by sub-band gap response studies, contact potential difference measurements in N2 ambient and the estimation of the surface recombination velocities before and after modification.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
B. A. Parkinson, A. Heller and B. Miller, J. Electrochem. Soc. 126 (1979) 954.
A. Heller, Accts. Chem. Res. 14 (1981) 154.
A. Heller and R. G. Vadimsky, Phys. Rev. Lett. 46 (1981) 1153.
B. J. Tufts, I. L. Abrahams, P. G. Santangelo, G. N. Ryba, L. G. Casagrande and N. S. Lewis, Nature 326 (1987) 861.
O. Savadogo, Can. J. Chem. 67 (1989) 382.
K. C. Mandal, F. Ozanam and J.-N. Chazalviel, Appl. Phys. Lett. 57 (1990) 2788.
D. N. Bose, S. Basu, K. C. Mandal and D. Mazumdar, ibid. 48 (1986) 472.
K. C. Mandal, S. Basu and D. N. Bose, Solar Cells 18 (1986) 25.
D. N. Bose, S. Basu and K. C. Mandal, Thin Solid Films 164 (1988) 13.
D. N. Bose, M. S. Hegde, S. Basu and K. C. Mandal, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 4 (1989) 866.
J. Reichman and M. A. Russak, J. Appl. Phys. 53 (1982) 708.
G. Hodes, D. Cahen, J. Manassen and M. David, J. Electrochem. Soc. 127 (1980) 2252.
D. Cahen, G. Hodes, J. Manassen and M. David, ibid. 12 (1980) 2752.
R. Tenne, Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem. 85 (1981) 413.
M. Tomkiewicz, I. Ling and W. S. Parsons, J. Electrochem. Soc. 129 (1982) 2016.
K. C. Mandal, J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 9 (1990) 1203.
K. C. Mandal and K. S. V. Santhanam, J. Mater. Sci. 26 (1991) 3905.
W. Wallace, R. N. Noufi and S. K. Deb, in Proceedings of the 15th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Florida (1981) p. 1363.
G. Hodes, Nature 29 (1980) 285.
A. B. Ellis, S. W. Kaiser and M. S. Wrighton, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 98 (1976) 6418.
M. A. Russak, J. Reichman, H. Witzke, S. K. Deb and S. N. Chen, J. Electrochem. Soc. 127 (1980) 725.
W. W. Gartner, Phys. Rev. 116 (1959) 84.
R. S. Feigelson, A. N. Diaye, S. Yin and R. H. Bube, J. Appl. Phys. 48 (1977) 3162.
R. J. Nelson, J. S. Williams, H. J. Leamy, B. Miller, H. C. Casey, Jr., B. A. Parkinson and A. Heller, Appl. Phys. Lett. 36 (1980) 76.
L. Jastrzebski, J. Lagowski and H. C. Gatos, ibid. 48 (1986) 472.
D. E. Aspnes, Surf. Sci. 132 (1983) 406.
R. H. Wilson, L. A. Harris and M. E. Gerstner, J. Electrochem. Soc. 127 (1987) 712.
R. H. Kingston and S. F. Neustadtar, J. Appl. Phys. 26 (1955) 718.
C. D. Wagner, W. M. Riggs, L. E. Davis, J. F. Moulder and G. E. Muilenberg, (editors) in “Handbook of X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy”, (Perkin-Elmer Corporation, USA, 1977).
F. A. Cotton and G. Wilkinson, in “Advanced Inorganic Chemistry”, 3rd Edn, (Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1972) p. 427.
R. N. Noufi, P. A. Kohl, J. W. Cers, Jr., J. M. White and A. J. Bard, J. Electrochem. Soc. 126 (1979) 949.
K. T. L. de Silva and D. Haneman, ibid. 127 (1980) 1554.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mandal, K.C., Savadogo, O. Chemically deposited n-CdSe thin film photo-electrochemical cells: effects of Zn2+-modification. J Mater Sci 27, 4355–4360 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541566
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541566