Double
Open-Circuit Voltage of Three-Dimensional ZnO/CdTe Solar Cells by
a Balancing Depletion Layer
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Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) heterojunction
solar cells (HSCs) were fabricated by thermal deposition of a compact
CdTe layer onto ZnO nanorods (NRs). Although the 3D architecture obviously
improves the short-circuit current of HSCs, the open-circuit voltage
is rather low, and this problem can be addressed by inserting an intermediate
layer between ZnO NRs and the CdTe layer. On the basis of experimental
and theoretical analyses, we found that the low open-circuit voltage
mainly arose from the incomplete depletion layer and serious recombination
of carriers at the CdTe/ZnO interface. The CdS intermediate layer
can redistribute the depletion regions and eliminate the interface
defects, thus remarkably improving the open-circuit voltage