A process for large-scale production of CdTe/CdS thin film solar cells, without the use of CdCl2

摘要

A process for the large-scale production of CdTe/CdS thin film solar cells, saidfilms being deposited as a sequence on a transparent substrate, comprising thesteps of : depositing a film of a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) on said substrate;depositing a film of CdS on said TCO film; depositing a film of CdTe on said CdS film;treating said CdTe film with a Chlorine-containing inert gas; depositing a back-contactfilm on said treated CdTe film. The Chlorine -containing inert gas is a Chlorofluorocarbon or a Hydrochlorof luorocarbon product and the treatment is carriedout in a vacuum chamber at an operating temperature of 380-4200C. The Chlorinereleased as a result of the thermal dissociation of the product reacts with solidCdTe present on the cell surface to produce TeCl2 and CdCl2 vapors. Any residualCdCl2 is removed from the cell surface by applying vacuum to the vacuum chamberwhile keeping the temperature at the operating value.