This paper provides first-time correlations of the nanoscale physical structure with the macroscale electronic and optical properties of CdTe/CdS thin films for several standard deposition techniques. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to determine the micro and nanostructures of polycrystalline CdTe thin films used in photovoltaic (PV) cell fabrication. Photoluminescence (PL) was used to determine band gap, relative defect density, and photoexcited carrier lifetime. Nanostructural features (nanograins), beyond the spatial resolution of conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were observed and characterized in as-deposited CdTe. The correlations of the proximal probe measurements of the physical structure with the optically determined electronic properties were used to show the effects of the chemical and heat processing, directly and conclusively. A particularly striking effect with important implications for PV applications is the diffusion of sulfur across the CdTe/CdS interface during heat treatment.
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