Pronounced Impact of p-Type Carriers and Reduction of Bandgap in Semiconducting ZnTe Thin Films by Cu Doping for Intermediate Buffer Layer in Heterojunction Solar Cells

Stabilized un-doped Zinc Telluride (ZnTe) thin films were grown on glass substrates under vacuum using a closed space sublimation (CSS) technique. A dilute copper nitrate solution (0.1/100 mL) was prepared for copper doping, known as an ion exchange process, in the matrix of the ZnTe thin film. The reproducible polycrystalline cubic structure of undoped and the Cu doped ZnTe thin films with preferred orientation (111) was confirmed by X-rays diffraction (XRD) technique. Lattice parameter analyses verified the expansion of unit cell volume after incorporation of Cu species into ZnTe thin films samples. The micrographs of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to measure the variation in crystal sizes of samples. The energy dispersive X-rays were used to validate the elemental composition of undoped and Cu-doped ZnTe thin films. The bandgap energy 2.24 eV of the ZnTe thin film decreased after doping Cu to 2.20 eV and may be due to the introduction of acceptors states near to valance band. Optical studies showed that refractive index was measured from 2.18 to 3.24, whereas thicknesses varied between 220 nm to 320 nm for un-doped and Cu doped ZnTe thin film, respectively, using the Swanepoel model. The oxidation states of Zn2+, Te2+, and Cu+ through high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses was observed. The resistivity of thin films changed from ~107 Ω·cm or undoped ZnTe to ~1 Ω·cm for Cu-doped ZnTe thin film, whereas p-type carrier concentration increased from 4 × 109 cm−2 to 1.4 × 1011 cm−2, respectively. These results predicted that Cu-doped ZnTe thin film can be used as an ideal, efficient, and stable intermediate layer between metallic and absorber back contact for the heterojunction thin film solar cell technology.