Properties of Zinc Oxide thin layers for Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

Many semiconductor devices such as solar energy collectors and absorber have identified ZnO as suitable material for applications. Due to this demand, Zinc Oxide films were deposited onto glass substrates using screen printing technique and their thickness, optical absorption and transmittance in the UV-VIS NIR range measure using a spectrometer. Their absorbance and transmittance were measured and analyzed using FTIR. The films were analyzed as deposited and annealed at 150oC and 200oC respectively. The findings revealed that annealed ZnO films at 150oC exhibited higher absorptions for 340 -370nm wavelengths as compared to those annealed at at 350 -370nm wavelength range. Their band gaps ranged from 2.86 -3.19eV with high transmittance and low absorbance. The relations between band gap, structural and optical properties was discussed briefly. They were found to be appropriate for solar energy collection applications.