Thermally restorable optical degradation effects in heat-treated Cu2S-CdS crystal heterojunctions.
We have shown that heat treatment alone does not produce appreciable degradation of the short-circuit current in Cu2S-CdS single-crystal photovoltaic heterojunctions. The degradation, which has been commonly observed, is the result of optically induced effects in the heat-treated cell, subsequent to the heat treatment. These optically induced effects can be correlated with photochemical changes induced in single crystals of CdS:Cd:Cu in which the density of Cu acceptors exceeds the density of excess-Cd donors. Major conclusions about the mechanism of the photovoltaic effect and heat-treatment processes can be drawn.