Temperature dependent transport properties of CuInSe2-ZnO heterostructure solar Cell

Experimental study of dc and ac transport properties of CuInSe₂/ZnO heterostructure is presented. The current-voltage (I-V) and frequency dependent capacitance (C-f) characteristics of CuInSe₂/ZnO heterostructure were investigated in the temperature range 160-393 K. The heterostructure showed non-ideal behavior of I-V characteristics with an ideality factor of 3.0 at room temperature. Temperature dependent dc conductivity studies exhibited Arrhenius type behavior and revealed the presence of trap level. The C⁻²-V plot measured at frequency 50 kHz had shown non-linear behavior. An increase in capacitance with temperature was observed. The capacitance-frequency characteristics exhibited a transition between low frequency and the high frequency capacitance. As the temperature was lowered the transition occurred at lower frequencies. The frequency and temperature dependent device capacitance had shown a defect state having activation energy of 108 meV.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy on Au nanoparticles assembled using lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT)

In this report, we demonstrate scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy on thin films of lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT) protected gold nanoparticles. We show that the zero current in the I-V curves (measure of Coulomb blockade (CB) of the nanoparticles) depends on the properties of the spacer molecule. In both the cases the gap voltage and the tunneling current at which the images are obtained are quite different which is further confirmed from the fitting performed based on the orthodox theory. The values for the capacitance and charging energy obtained from the fitting for ODT capped particles are comparable to the values obtained using spherical capacitor model. In contrast, values of these parameters were found to differ for LAM capped nanoparticles. While imaging, ODT capped nanoparticles were observed to drag along the scan direction leading to ordering of particles. Images of LAM capped gold nanoparticles show local ordering in self-assembly of particles although no evidence of large scale ordering in spatial Fourier transform was seen. These observations suggest that nanoparticles with larger CB would be imaged nonevasively in contrast to small CB systems for which tip induced effects will be dominant. In both the systems the current was found to rise faster than theoretical curves based on the orthodox theory suggesting that mechanism of charge transfer in this case may involve field emission rather than tunneling through a rectangular barrier. An attempt has been made to explain charge transfer based on Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) plots of the I-V curves.     

Structure analysis of W(0 0 1)2 × 1-O surface at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures

Surface structure of O-adsorbed W(0 0 1) surface after annealing to 1200 K has been analyzed by low energy electron diffraction at 77 K as well as at room temperature. The optimum structure has tungsten missing rows and oxygen double rows. Furthermore, the R-factor is minimized at the structure that O atoms are adsorbed on one of the two different threefold hollow sites of the (1 1 0) facet appearing on the W(0 0 1)2 × 1 with missing row. However, the results suggest that two domains of O atoms adsorbed on both the two different threefold hollow sites coexist. Then, I-V curves have been analyzed as a function of the mixing ratio of the two domains having different O adsorption sites at room and low temperatures. The energy difference between these two sites has been estimated to be 6.5 meV from the temperature dependence of the mixing ratio.     

Fabrication and electrical characterization of nanocrystalline ZnO/Si heterojunctions

Nanocrystalline zinc oxide (nc-ZnO) films were prepared by a sol-gel process on p-type single-crystalline Si substrates to fabricate nc-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions. The structure and morphology of ZnO films on Si substrates, which were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM), showed that ZnO films consisted of 50-100 nm polycrystalline nanograins with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The electrical transport properties of the nc-ZnO/p-Si heterojunctions were investigated by temperature-dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements and room temperature capacitance-voltage measurements. The temperature-dependent I-V characteristics revealed that the forward conduction was determined by multi-step tunneling current, and the activation energy of saturation current was about 0.26 eV. The 1/C²-V plots indicated the junction was abrupt and the junction built-in potential was 1.49 V at room temperature.     

Optical and electrical properties of thermally evaporated In49Se48Sn3 films

Nearly stoichiometric thin films of In₄₉Se₄₈Sn₃ were deposited at room temperature, by conventional thermal evaporation of the presynthesized materials, onto precleaned glass substrates. The microstructural studies on the as-deposited and annealed films, using transmission electron microscopy and diffraction (TEMD), revealed that the as-deposited films are amorphous in nature, while those annealed at 498 K are crystalline. The optical properties of the investigated films were determined from the transmittance and reflectance data, in the spectral range 650-2500 nm. An analysis of the optical absorption spectra revealed a non-direct energy gap characterizing the amorphous films, while both allowed and forbidden direct energy gaps characterized the crystalline films. The electrical resistance of the deposited films was carried out during heating and cooling cycles in the temperature range 300-600 K. The results show an irreproducible behavior, while after crystallization the results become reproducible. The analysis of the temperature dependence of the resistance (ln(R) vs. 1000/T) for crystalline films shows two straight lines corresponding to both extrinsic and intrinsic conduction. The room temperature I-V characteristics of the as-deposited films sandwiched between similar Ag metal electrodes shows an ohmic behavior, while non-ohmic behavior attributed to space charge limited conduction has been observed when the films are sandwiched between dissimilar Ag/Al metal electrodes.     

The dependence of barrier height on temperature for Pd Schottky contacts on ZnO

Temperature dependent current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements have been performed on Pd/ZnO Schottky barrier diodes in the range 60-300 K. The room temperature values for the zero bias barrier height from the I-V measurements (Φ_I-V) was found to be 0.52 eV and from the C-V measurements (Φ_C-V) as 3.83 eV. From the temperature dependence of forward bias I-V, the barrier height was observed to increase with temperature, a trend that disagrees with the negative temperature coefficient for semiconductor material. The C-V barrier height decreases with temperature, a trend that is in agreement with the negative temperature coefficient of semiconductor material. This has enabled us to fit two curves in two regions (60-120 K and 140-300 K). We have attributed this behaviour to a defect observed by DLTS with energy level 0.31 eV below the conduction band and defect concentration of between 4×10¹⁶ and 6×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ that traps carriers, influencing the determination of the barrier height.     

The influence of the substrate temperature on the photovoltaic properties of spray-deposited CdS:In thin films

Polycrystalline and highly transparent CdS:In thin films were produced by the spray pyrolysis (SP) technique at different substrate temperatures ranging from 350 to 490 °C on glass substrates. The effect of the substrate temperature on the photovoltaic properties of the films was investigated by studying the transmittance measurements, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations and the I-V plots. The transmittance measurements were used to estimate the band gap energy by the linear fit of (αhν)² versus hν. The band gap energy was found to be slightly increasing with the substrate temperature. XRD diffractograms show that a phase transition from the cubic to the hexagonal phase occurs by increasing the substrate temperature, beside more orientation of crystal growth. Also they show that complex cadmium compounds are still present till T_s ≈ 460 °C after which they practically disappear. From the linear I-V plots the resistivity was estimated and found to be strongly decreasing with the substrate temperature.     

Tunneling mechanism through the nonlinear electrical transport in Co/CoO particles with core-shell nanostructure

We investigate the nonlinear electrical transport as a function of temperature in Co/CoO nanoparticles having core-shell nanostructure. Nanoparticle was synthesized by sol-gel citrate precursor technique where core-shell nanostructure is confirmed by the high resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are measured over the temperature range 20-295 K. I-V curve exhibits ohmic behaviour at 295 K. Nonlinear electrical transport is observed at low temperature (T) for T?275 K. Electrical transport properties have been interpreted in terms of tunneling mechanism where tunneling between ferromagnetic Co nanoparticles takes place through the antiferromagnetic CoO layer. Analysis of dynamic conductance (G=dI/dV) indicates that the inelastic tunneling via localized states of antiferromagnetic CoO layers is dominant in the transport mechanism at low temperature.     

STM observation of Coulomb staircase behavior through C60 clusters

Two samples of C60 clusters were prepared on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate by thermal evaporation. One is ∼1 nm and the other is ∼15 nm in radius. The current flowing across C60 clusters was measured using scanning tunneling microscope in atmosphere at room temperature. Coulomb staircase behavior was successively observed in the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics. Interestingly, the capacitances between HOPG and C60 clusters, estimated from the I–V characteristics, were almost the same between these two samples. We discussed this result taking into account the relaxation and localization time of electrons injected into C60 clusters.     

Current conduction mechanism in Al/p-Si Schottky barrier diodes with native insulator layer at low temperatures

The forward bias current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Al/p-Si (MS) Schottky diodes with native insulator layer were measured in the temperature range of 80-300 K. The obtained zero bias barrier height Φ_B0(I-V), ideality factor (n) and series resistance (R_s) determined by using thermionic emission (TE) mechanism show strong temperature dependence. There is a linear correlation between the Φ_B0(I-V) and n because of the inhomogeneties in the barrier heights (BHs). Calculated values from temperature dependent I-V data reveal an unusual behaviour such that the Φ_B0 decreases, as the n and R_s values are increasing with decreasing absolute temperature, and these changes are more pronounced especially at low temperatures. Such temperature dependence of BH is contradictory with the reported negative temperature coefficient of the barrier height. In order to explain this behaviour we have reported a modification in the expression reverse saturation current I_o including the n and the tunnelling factor (αΧ^1/2δ) estimated to be 15.5. Therefore, corrected effective barrier height Φ_bef.(I-V) versus temperature has a negative temperature coefficients (α = −2.66 × 10⁻⁴ eV/K) and it is in good agreement with negative temperature coefficients (α = −4.73 × 10⁻⁴ eV/K) of Si band gap. In addition, the temperature dependent energy distribution of interface states density N_ss profiles was obtained from the forward bias I-V measurements by taking into account the bias dependence of the Φ_e and n. The forward bias I-V characteristics confirm that the distribution of N_ss, R_s and interfacial insulator layer are important parameters that the current conduction mechanism of MS Schottky diodes.     

The effect of interface states, excess capacitance and series resistance in the Al/SiO2/p-Si Schottky diodes

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Al/SiO₂/p-Si metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) Schottky diodes were measured at room temperature. In addition the capacitance-voltage (C-V) and conductance-voltage (G-V) measurements are studied at frequency range of 10 kHz-1 MHz. The higher value of ideality factor of 3.25 was attributed to the presence of an interfacial insulator layer between metal and semiconductor and the high density of interface states localized at Si/SiO₂ interface. The density of interface states (N_ss) distribution profile as a function of (E_ss − E_v) was extracted from the forward bias I-V measurements by taking into account the bias dependence of the effective barrier height (Φ_e) at room temperature for the Schottky diode on the order of ≅4 × 10¹³ eV⁻¹ cm⁻²_. These high values of N_ss were responsible for the non-ideal behaviour of I-V and C-V characteristics. Frequency dispersion in C-V and G-V can be interpreted only in terms of interface states. The N_ss can follow the ac signal especially at low frequencies and yield an excess capacitance. Experimental results show that the I-V, C-V and G-V characteristics of SD are affected not only in N_ss but also in series resistance (R_s), and the location of N_ss and R_s has a significant on electrical characteristics of Schottky diodes.     

The influence of substrate temperature on electrical properties of Cu/CdS/SnO2 Schottky diode

Polycrystalline CdS samples on the SnO₂ coated glass substrate were obtained by vacuum evaporation method at low substrate temperatures (T_S=200 and 300 K) instead of the commonly used vacuum evaporation at high substrate temperatures (T_S>300 K). X-ray diffraction studies showed that the textures of the films are hexagonal with a strong (0 0 2) preferred direction. Circular Cu contacts were deposited on the upper surface of the CdS thin films at 200 K by vacuum evaporation. The effects of low substrate temperature on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the Cu/CdS/SnO₂ structure were investigated in the temperature range 100-300 K. The Cu/CdS (at 300 K)/SnO₂ structure shows exponential current-voltage variations. However, I-V characteristics of the Cu/CdS (at 200 K)/SnO₂ structure deviate from exponential behavior due to high series resistance. The diodes show non-ideal I-V behavior with an ideality factor greater than unity. The results indicate that the current transport mechanism in the Cu/CdS (at 300 K)/SnO₂ structure in the whole temperature range is performed by tunneling with E₀₀=143 meV. However, the current transport mechanism in the Cu/CdS (at 200 K)/SnO₂ structure is tunneling in the range 200-300 K with E₀₀=82 meV.     

Tunneling spectra for single molecules of HEX-fluorescent dye attached to DNA adsorbed on Cu(1 1 1) surfaces

We used the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to examine single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) oligomers deposited on a metal surface. Because STM can be used to study the electrical properties of materials via the tunneling spectra, we used it to visualize DNA oligomers at the single molecule resolution. The 5′-hexachloro-fluorescein phosphoramidite (HEX)-labeled oligomers (sequence, AGCTTC) were observed on an atomically flat Cu(1 1 1) surface. At large tip-sample distances at large set-point biases, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbit (LUMO) peak of the empty state can be observed for the dye molecules on the tunneling spectra. When this distance becomes small, similar spectra as for the Cu substrate were observed for the dye molecule on the LUMO-related peak. Cu gave peaks at small bias voltages in the filled state. From comparison of these peaks on each subunit of the molecules, the measured values of dI/dV on HEX were smaller to those on Cu because of the large size of the HEX molecule, but the normalized values of dI/dV/(I/V) were apparently equal. We believe that the tunneling current is able to pass through the HEX molecules to the Cu substrate, thus reflecting the density of the Cu(1 1 1) surface. Molecular size therefore affects the intensity of dI/dV. LUMO-related peaks sometimes cannot be observed for HEX because of conformational differences, but Cu peaks can almost always be observed for HEX molecules. These peaks for the counter ions are almost the same as those for the Cu substrate. Thus, tunneling spectra can assist in the molecular mapping of DNA.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of Mo clusters grown on TiO2(1 1 0)

Molybdenum was deposited in two steps (3 eq. ML and 1 eq. ML) on the light blue rutile TiO₂(1 1 0) (1 × 1) surface at room temperature, each Mo deposition cycle being followed by an annealing up to 950-1000 K. This procedure was found to lead to formation of separated clusters having a size in very wide range (1-20 nm). Scanning tunneling microscopy showed a dependence of the cluster morphology as a function of the size. The scanning tunneling spectra of Mo clusters was studied as a function of cluster dimensions and discussed in comparison with photoelectron spectroscopy results previously obtained for homogeneous Mo films. The dI/dV curves do not display the valence band structure of deposited material, which could be explained by the Schottky barrier formation.     

Growth of nanocrystalline CuIn3Se5 (OVC) thin films by ion exchange reactions at room temperature and their characterization as photo-absorbing layers

Nanocrystalline CuIn₃Se₅ thin films have been grown on ITO glass substrates using chemical ion exchange reactions with CdS, in alkaline medium at pH 11. The as-deposited films were annealed in air at 200 °C for 30 min and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy to study the structural, compositional and morphological properties. The XRD patterns reveal the nanoparticles size to be of 18-20 nm diameter, while from the SEM images the nanoparticles size is estimated to be 20-30 nm. It is observed that the annealed films contain nanocrystallites connected with each other through grain boundaries, with grain size of about 100-125 nm and have an overall n-type electrical conductivity and higher photoconductivity. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics (in dark and light) of these films indicated the formation of a Schottky like junction between the n-CuIn₃Se₅ (OVC) and CdS/ITO layers.     

The effects of annealing on Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky structure

Thin film of non-polymeric organic compound pyronine-B has been fabricated on moderately doped (MD) n-InP substrate as an interfacial layer using spin coating technique for the electronic modification of Au/MD n-InP Schottky contact. The electrical characteristics have been determined at room temperature. The barrier height and the ideality factor values for Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky diode have been obtained from the forward bias I-V characteristics at room temperature as 0.60 eV and 1.041; 0.571 and 1.253 eV after annealing at 100 and 250 °C, respectively. An increase in annealing temperature at the Au/n-InP Schottky junction is shown to increase the reverse bias leakage current by about one order of magnitude and decrease the Schottky barrier height by 0.027 eV. Furthermore, the barrier height values for the Au/pyronine-B/MD n-InP Schottky diode have also been obtained from the C-V characteristics at room temperature as 1.001 and 0.709 eV after annealing at 100 and 250 °C, respectively. Finally, it was seen that the diode parameters changed with increase in the annealing temperature.     

Optical and electrical properties of thermally oxidized bismuth thin films

Bismuth trioxide (Bi₂O₃) thin films were prepared by dry thermal oxidation of metallic bismuth films deposited by vacuum evaporation. The oxidation process of Bi films consists of a heating from the room temperature to an oxidation temperature (T_o = 673 K), with a temperature rate of 8 K/min; an annealing for 1 h at oxidation temperature and, finally, a cooling to room temperature. The optical transmission and reflection spectra of the films were studied in spectral domains ranged between 300 nm and 1700 nm, for the transmission coefficient, and between 380 nm and 1050 nm for the reflection coefficient, respectively. The thin-film surface structures of the metal/oxide/metal type were used for the study of the static current-voltage (I-U) characteristics. The temperature of the substrate during bismuth deposition strongly influences both the optical and the electrical properties of the oxidized films. For lower values of intensity of electric field (ξ < 5 × 10⁴V/cm), I-U characteristics are ohmic.     

Optical and electrical characterization of TiO2 nanotube arrays on titanium substrate

Novel oriented aligned TiO₂ nanotube (TN) arrays were fabricated by anodizing titanium foil in 0.5% HF electrolyte solution. It is indicated that the sizes of the TNs greatly depended on the applied voltages to some extent. The electrical properties of the TN arrays were characterized by current-voltage (I-V) measurements. It exhibits a nonlinear, asymmetric I-V characterization, which can be explained that there exists an n-type semiconductor/metal Schottky barrier diode between TN arrays and titanium substrate interface. The absorption edges shift towards shorter wavelengths with the decrease of the anodizing voltages, which is attributed to the quantum size effects. At room temperature, a novel wide PL band consisting of four overlapped peaks was observed in the photoluminescence (PL) measurements of the TN arrays. Such peaks were proposed to be resulted from the direct transition X₁ → X₂/X₁, indirect transition Γ₁ → X₂/X₁, self-trapped excitons and oxygen vacancies, respectively.     

Molecular control over Ag/p-Si diode by organic layer

Electrical transport properties of Ag metal-fluorescein sodium salt (FSS) organic layer-silicon junction have been investigated. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the diode show rectifying behavior consistent with a potential barrier formed at the interface. The diode indicates a non-ideal I-V behavior with an ideality factor higher than unity. The ideality factor of the Ag/FSS/p-Si diode decreases with increasing temperature and the barrier height increases with increasing temperature. The barrier height (φ_b=0.98 eV) obtained from the capacitance-voltage (C-V) curve is higher than barrier height (φ_b=0.72 eV) derived from the I-V measurements. The barrier height of the Ag/FSS/p-Si Schottky diode at the room temperature is significantly larger than that of the Ag/p-Si Schottky diode. It is evaluated that the FSS organic layer controls electrical charge transport properties of Ag/p-Si diode by excluding effects of the SiO₂ residual oxides on the hybrid diode.     

Temperature dependence of the current-voltage characteristics of the Al/Rhodamine-101/p-Si(1 0 0) contacts

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of Al/Rhodamine-101/p-Si/Al contacts have been measured at temperatures ranging from 280 to 400 K at 20 K intervals. A barrier height (BH) value of 0.817 eV for the Al/Rh101/p-Si/Al contact was obtained at the room temperature that is significantly larger than the value of 0.58 eV of the conventional Al/p-Si Schottky diode. While the barrier height Φ_b0 decreases the ideality factors (n) become larger with lowering temperature. The high values of n depending on the sample temperature may be ascribed to decrease of the exponentially increase rate in current due to space-charge injection into Rh101 thin film at higher voltage. Therefore, at all temperatures, it has been seen that the I-V characteristics show three different regions, the ohmic behavior at low voltages, and the space charge limited current with an exponential distribution of traps at high voltages.