Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells"
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.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - 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.
AU - Muzzio, Ryan
A2 - Kuciauskas, Darius
A3 - Sartor, Ed
A4 - Brown, Josh
A5 - Nawash, Jalal
A6 - Duenow, Joel
A7 - Lott, Hongling
A8 - Lee, Chungho
A9 - Reese, Matthew
A10 - Perkins, Craig
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - photovoltaic
KW - native oxide
KW - metallization
KW - photoemission
KW - Auger
KW - Photoluminesence
KW - CdTe
LA - English
DA - 2026/02/27
PY - 2026
PB - National Laboratory of the Rockies
T1 - Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells"
UR - https://data.openei.org/submissions/8635
ER -
Muzzio, Ryan, et al. Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells". National Laboratory of the Rockies, 27 February, 2026, NREL. https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319.
Muzzio, R., Kuciauskas, D., Sartor, E., Brown, J., Nawash, J., Duenow, J., Lott, H., Lee, C., Reese, M., & Perkins, C. (2026). Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells". [Data set]. NREL. National Laboratory of the Rockies. https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319
Muzzio, Ryan, Darius Kuciauskas, Ed Sartor, Josh Brown, Jalal Nawash, Joel Duenow, Hongling Lott, Chungho Lee, Matthew Reese, and Craig Perkins. Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells". National Laboratory of the Rockies, February, 27, 2026. Distributed by NREL. https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_8635,
title = {Data for "Gold-Induced Chemical Perturbations in CdTe-Based Photovoltaic Cells"},
author = {Muzzio, Ryan and Kuciauskas, Darius and Sartor, Ed and Brown, Josh and Nawash, Jalal and Duenow, Joel and Lott, Hongling and Lee, Chungho and Reese, Matthew and Perkins, Craig},
abstractNote = {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.\ },
url = {https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {NREL, National Laboratory of the Rockies, https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319},
note = {Accessed: 2026-06-03}
}
Details
Data from Feb 27, 2026
Last updated Mar 17, 2026
Submitted Feb 27, 2026
Organization
National Laboratory of the Rockies
Contact
Ryan Muzzio
Authors
Original Source
https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/319Research Areas
Keywords
photovoltaic, native oxide, metallization, photoemission, Auger, Photoluminesence, CdTeDOE Project Details
Project Name CdTe Photovoltaics Accelerator and Consortium Management, CdTe PV Research and Development Core Project
Project Number 37989, 52778
