CdO/Cu2O solar cells by chemical deposition (original) (raw)
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A Comparison of Optical Properties of CuO and Cu2O Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications
Materials Sciences and Applications, 2021
Solar energy is becoming more popular and widespread, and consequently, the materials to manufacture solar cells are becoming more limited and costly. Therefore, in order to keep solar energy affordable and available, we must research alternative materials such as copper oxides. Some benefits of copper oxides include being available in abundance, affordable, low toxicity, low bandgap, and a high absorption coefficient-all of which contribute to it being a valuable interest for the manufacturing of solar cells. In this study, CuO thin films were synthesized utilizing RF sputtering technique with deposition occurring at room temperature followed by thermal annealing between 100˚C and 400˚C and using different gases, oxygen (O 2) (oxidizing and reactive gas) and nitrogen (N 2) (inert gas), besides air. Afterwards, these thin films were evaluated for a range of wavelengths: 200-400 nm (UV spectrum), 400-700 nm (Visible spectrum), and 700-800 nm (IR spectrum), for both, optical transmittance and photoluminescence. In addition, the CuO results were compared to our Cu 2 O results from a previous study to assess their differences. In the results of this study, the CuO thin film initially had a bandgap of 2.19 eV at room temperature, and by increasing the annealing temperature to different levels, the bandgap decreased respectively. The presence of air in the chamber allowed for the highest decrease, followed by the nitrogen (N 2) and the lowest decrease was observed in the presence of oxygen (O 2). This was reflected in the decrease in the bandgap values from 2.19 eV (room temperature) to 2.05 eV for the films annealed at 400˚C.
2013
Copper (I) oxide (Cu 2 O) is a direct band gap semiconductor with p-type conductivity and is a potential candidate for multi-junction solar cells. In this work, incoherent light source based photoassisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was used to deposit high quality Cu 2 O thin films on n-type ,100. silicon and quartz substrates. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that crystalline Cu 2 O is deposited. UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy results indicated a band gap of 2.44 eV for Cu 2 O thin films. Transmission electron spectroscopy results show that the Cu 2 O film grows in the form of three-dimensional islands composed of smaller nanocrystalline grains in the range of 10-20 nm. I-V measurements indicate that the Cu 2 O/n-Si device fabricated using the MOCVD process has a lower dark current density than other devices reported in the literature.
Cu 2 O Photosensitive Thin Films for Solar Cell Application
Among copper oxides, Cu 2 O is intensively studied due to its high optical absorption coefficient and relatively good electrical properties. Copper oxide thin films properties depend on the deposition method as an effect of detailed arrangement of Cu and O atoms that induce different physical properties. Cu 2 O is a p-type semiconductor having a band gap sufficiently close to the optimal band gap under AM1.5 radiation spectrum, which makes it an attractive material for photovoltaic applications and solar cells. The structural and morphological properties of deposited thin films were investigated by S canning Electron Microscopy (S EM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The thin film thickness and optical constants were determined by S pectroscopic Ellipsometry (S E). The purpose of the paper was to study the technological possibilities of preparing high quality Cu 2 O thin films, used in photovoltaic applications. The sputter-deposited Cu 2 O thin films presented in this work show g...
CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells Fabricated With CuO as a Buffer Layer in the Back Contact
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 2017
The choice of back contact plays a key role in the fabrication of a CdTe thin film solar cell. Material with low electric resistivity, relatively high work function, and thermal stability is needed to form a low barrier contact on a CdTe absorber film. In this work, thin CuO layer was employed as a buffer layer between p-type CdTe and metal electrode. Quantitative band alignment measurement demonstrated that a relatively low energy barrier (∼0.44 eV) was formed at the CuO/CdTe interface. CdTe solar cell stability was significantly enhanced when a CuO buffer layer and less Cu were employed in the back contact.
Effect of copper on physical properties of CdO thin films and n-CdO: Cu / p-Si heterojunction
Journal of Ovonic Research, 2022
Transition metal Copper doped Cadmium oxide and (Cu: CdO and n-CdO: Cu / p-Si) thin films were prepared onto glass and p-type single crystal (111) Si substrates at temperature 300 K by thermal evaporation technique with thickness (400±30) nm. The effects of different Cu ratios on the CdO thin films and heterojunction of n-CdO / p-Si.. The X-ray diffraction analysis approves the CdO films are polycrystalline and cubic structure with lattice parameter of 0.4689 nm. The optical transmittance exhibits excellent optical absorption for 6% Cu doping. Decreased of optical band gap from 2.1 to 1.8 eV. Hall measurement approves that CdO material n type with a maximum carrier mobility of 144.6 (cm2 /Vs) with resistivity of 0.107991 (Ω.cm) were achieved for 6% Copper (Cu) doping. The I-V characteristics of heterojunction prepared under illumination was carried out by(100 mW/cm2) incident power density at different Cu doping.
Review of the development of copper oxides with titanium dioxide thin-film solar cells
AIP Advances, 2020
Copper oxide-titanium dioxide (TiO 2) p-n junctions are promising materials for photovoltaic devices and may reduce production costs due to their low cost and inexpensive production methods compared with silicon solar cells. The present review compares solar cells made with copper oxides combined with TiO 2-TiO 2 /Cu 2 O and TiO 2 /CuO heterojunctions, and "cascade heterojunction systems." First, we describe the main properties of titanium (IV) dioxide (TiO 2), cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O), and cupric oxide (CuO), and their potential applications. Next, we explain the concept of copper oxide and TiO 2 heterojunctions. We summarize and present the photovoltaic characteristics (efficiency, fill factor, circuit current density, and open circuit voltage), thickness, preparation method, and electrode type for solar cells comprising copper oxide and TiO 2. The efficiency of the solar cells ranged from 0.0005% to 1.62%. The thickness of the TiO 2 and cupric oxide layers ranged from 0.06 to 16 μm, and from 0.18 to 1.5 μm, respectively, depending on the fabrication method. Additionally, we review and discuss the available combinations of copper oxide with other materials (Cu 2 O with ZnO, CuO with ZnO, and CuO with Si), as well as the effect of the thickness of the copper (I) oxide and copper (II) oxide on the solar cell performance. Finally, we present aspects to improve the conversion efficiency of heterojunction solar cells with copper oxides combined with TiO 2. This review will be useful for the construction and further development of thin-film solar cells.
Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, 2019
A series of copper oxide thin films were synthesized through direct current magnetron sputtering on glass and silicon substrates with various process parameters. Initially, optical microscopy images and their histograms were analyzed to determine the optical quality of the obtained layers and then histograms were created using Image Histogram Generator software. Next, the morphology, and cross-section and layer composition of the samples were evaluated. Finally, the transmission spectra of the thin films were recorded. Transmittance and reflection spectra of the UV–vis analysis were utilized to calculate the optical band gap, the extinction coefficient, and the absorption coefficient of the oxidized layers. Samples showed low transmittance (up to 40%) in the region of 400 to 1000 nm. The mean absorption coefficient varied from ~3 · 105 to ~6 · 105 1/cm and from ~2 · 105 to ~4 · 105 1/cm in the region of 2 eV to 3.5 eV. The extinction coefficient ranged from 0 to 0.11 in the region f...
Chemically deposited copper oxide thin films: structural, optical and electrical characteristics
Applied Surface Science, 1999
Thin films of copper oxide with thickness ranging from 0.05-0.45 mm were deposited on microscope glass slides by successively dipping them for 20 s each in a solution of 1 M NaOH and then in a solution of copper complex. Temperature of the NaOH solution was varied from 50-908C, while that of the copper solution was maintained at room temperature. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the films, as prepared, are of cuprite structure with composition Cu O. Annealing the 2 films in air at 3508C converts these films to CuO. This conversion is accompanied by a shift in the optical band gap from 2.1 Ž . Ž .
CdO thin film synthesis by electrochemical deposition method at 15 min deposition time was investigated in this paper. The result of the optical transmittance of CdO thin film which formed at room temperature was 20% at wavelength ≈ 350 nm then increases to 60% at wavelength ≈1100 nm for thin film of CdO. The band-gap was also calculated from the equation relating absorption coefficient with the wavelength. The energy band gap changes from 2.3eV (Bulk CdO) to 2.45eV (CdO thin film). The plotted graphs show the optical characteristics of the film which varied with the wavelength and the photon energy. The optical conductance and band-gap indicated that the film is transmitting within the visible range. The dielectric constant and optical conductance of the film initially decreases slowly with increase in photon energy. The extinction coefficient and refractive index of the films also evaluated, which affected with the change in transmittance. The structure of synthesized CdO thin film was analyzed by X-ray diffraction XRD which revealed that the CdO thin film are polycrystalline and have several peaks of cubic face structure. The crystallite size, dislocation density, microstrain and number of dislocations of the thin film were calculated and listed.
A Review: Synthesis, Characterization and Cell Performance of Cu2O Based Material for Solar Cells
Low-cost thin film oxide/oxide heterojunctionsbased photovoltaic solar cellsare one of the alternatives to silicon solar cells, among the potential photovoltaic devices based on semiconductor oxides.Cuprous oxide is a potential material for the fabrication of low cost solar cells for terrestrial application. In this article, firstly, we reviewed cuprous oxide Crystal structure, Band structure, different properties of cuprous oxide material such as electrical and transport properties and photoluminescence.Then we discuss in detail the synthesis techniques for the production of copper oxide such as Thermal Oxidation, Anodic Oxidation, Electrodeposition, Sputtering, Chemical vapor deposition etc. Latter on a detailed survey on the previous work so far carried out on Cu2O based solar cells is presented.Thefabrication and cellperformance of based Solar Cells is also discussed.