Characterization of ZnO:Ga transparent contact electrodes for microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells

Lai, Kuang Chieh; Liu, Chien Chih; Lu, Chun-Shien; Yeh, Chih Hung; Houng, Mau Phon

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2009.12.002

Cited by 32 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…buffer layers [9] or electron selective contacts [ 10 ]) for vertical charge transport in immediate contact with absorbers, electrode layers (a.k.a. transparent conductors [11]) for lateral charge transport on top of buffer layers. Besides these contact applications in solar energy conversion, ZnO is a versatile material in its own right, since its wide direct bandgap of ~3.3eV and good electron dopability up to 10 21 cm -3 make it a promising candidate for various optoelectronic applications [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Rajbhandari

Bikowski

Perkins

et al. 2017

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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Development of tunable contact materials based on environmentally friendly chemical elements using scalable deposition approaches is necessary for existing and emerging solar energy conversion technologies. In this paper, the properties of ZnO alloyed with magnesium (Mg), and doped with gallium (Ga) are studied using combinatorial thin film experiments. As a result of these studies, the optical band gap of the sputtered Zn 1-x Mg x O thin films was determined to vary from 3.3 to 3.6 eV for a compositional spread of Mg content in the 0.04 < x < 0.17 range. Depending on whether or not Ga dopants were added, the electron concentrations were on the order of 10 17 cm -3 or 10 20 cm -3 , respectively. Based on these results and on the Kelvin Probe work function measurements, a band diagram was derived using basic semiconductor physics equations. The quantitative determination of how the energy levels of Gadoped (Zn,Mg)O thin films change as a function of Mg composition presented here, will facilitate their use as optimized contact layers for both Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS), Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) and other solar cell absorbers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Rajbhandari

Bikowski

Perkins

et al. 2017

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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“…Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films have been widely used in many device applications such as photovoltaic cells, light emitting diodes, and flat panel displays [1,2]. Particularly, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a promising alternative material to indium tin oxide as a TCO because it offers many advantages of low cost, thermal stability, and non-toxicity [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic parabola-shaped AZO subwavelength grating structures for efficient antireflection of Si-based solar cells

Leem

Joo

2011

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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“…ZnO versatility concerning the deposition technique is very attractive. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical synthesis and magnetron sputtering have been extensively applied in the research community [7][8][9][10]. The ZnO compound crystallizes in the hexagonal wurtzite structure and displays an intrinsic n-type conductivity that can be further enhanced to lower the electrical resistivity for the use in optoelectronic devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional analysis by RBS, XPS and EDX of ZnO:Al,Bi and ZnO:Ga,Bi thin films deposited by d.c. magnetron sputtering

Ribeiro

Correia

Salvador

et al. 2019

Vacuum

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Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopies were employed to analyse Bi incorporation into ZnO:Al and ZnO:Ga transparent and electrically conductive thin films deposited by d.c. magnetron sputtering, with thickness in the range of 300-400 nm. Sputtering was performed in an argon atmosphere from two targets in confocal geometry being one composed of either ZnO:Al 2 O 3 or ZnO:Ga 2 O 3 composites and the other a Bi metal target. The content of bismuth dopant in the ZnO matrix was controlled by the respective target current density (J Bi) in order to attain a high optical transparency (> 80%) in the visible region. For ZnO:Al,Bi films Bi content varied from 0.1 to a maximum of 1.5 at.% when varying J Bi from 0.06 to 0.26 mA cm −2. However, for ZnO:Ga,Bi films, deposited in similar conditions, Bi reached a maximum overall layer content of 2.4 at.%, with a surface enrichment content that varied from 1.3 to 8.8 at.%. It was also observed that the Bi content in the topmost layers of the films is slightly depleted due to thermal evaporation upon thermal annealing in vacuum at 350°C. It is envisaged applications for these films as transparent photoelectrodes and thermoelectric materials.

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Characterization of ZnO:Ga transparent contact electrodes for microcrystalline silicon thin film solar cells

Cited by 32 publications

References 18 publications

Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

Biomimetic parabola-shaped AZO subwavelength grating structures for efficient antireflection of Si-based solar cells

Compositional analysis by RBS, XPS and EDX of ZnO:Al,Bi and ZnO:Ga,Bi thin films deposited by d.c. magnetron sputtering

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