AVS 51st International Symposium
    Thin Films Thursday Sessions
       Session TF-ThA

Paper TF-ThA5
Reaction Kinetics of Cu with the CdTe(111)-B Surface

Thursday, November 18, 2004, 3:20 pm, Room 303C

Session: Photovoltaic Thin Films
Presenter: G. Teeter, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Authors: G. Teeter, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
C.L. Perkins, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
T. Gessert, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
C. Corwine, Colorado State University
S. Asher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Copper is frequently incorporated at the back contacts of CdTe-based thin film photovoltaic devices, where it is believed to dope the CdTe p-type and aid in the formation of a pseudo-ohmic contact. In the present study, the reaction kinetics of Cu thin films (0-30 Å) with the CdTe(111)-B surface have been measured via mass spectrometry in ultrahigh vacuum. Cu was deposited on the clean surface, and upon annealing it was observed that atomic Cd desorbs from the surface in proportion to the amount of deposited Cu. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) measurements reveal zero order reaction kinetics for the Cu/CdTe(111)-B system. In addition, surface composition maps generated by scanning Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) show that a metastable copper telluride phase forms at the surface under certain conditions.