Structural characterization of heteroepitaxial films of CdSe and ZnTe

The effects of composition, orientation and temperature of substrate on the structure and morphology of epitaxial CdSe and ZnTe films are analyzed. Single crystal wafers of zinc telluride and zinc selenide oriented along (110) and natural cleaved mica were used as substrates. This paper presents a complex investigation of the growth mechanism and crystal perfection of the films by optical microscopy, X-ray and electron diffraction, and by electron microscopy. The structure of the transient region of the film substrate interface was studied by X-ray microanalyzer and by scanning electron microscope. Cadmium selenide layers grown on mica had hexagonal structure and were oriented in the (0001) plane, those grown on zinc telluride crystals had cubic structure and orientation along (110). Zinc telluride layers were cubic and were oriented parallel the (111) plane when deposited on mica, and parallel to (110) when deposited on zinc selenide substrates. It is shown that the layers grew by a layer mechanism. Epitaxial growth of cubic cadmium selenide layers on zinc telluride single crystals, as well as of ZnTe layers on ZnSe substrates, made it possible to grow heterojunctions with a low density of misfit dislocations at the interface; this gave rise to intensive injection electroluminescence and effective separation of non-equilibrium charge carriers in such structures.     

High efficiency GaAs thin film solar cells by peeled film technology

p-GaAs/n-GaAs thin film concentrator solar cells were fabricated by Peeled Film Technology. This is the first paper that reports the concentration characteristics of thin film solar cells. The energy conversion efficiency of thin film solar cells at a concentration ratio of 109 is 9.4% and the output power density is 0.82 W/cm² · n-Ga_1?xAlxAs/p-GaAs heterojunction thin film solar cells were also fabricated. The initial heterojunction thin film solar cell with a Al mole fraction of 0.5 showed an efficiency of up to 13.5% (AM 1.5). It is proposed that Multi-Peeled Film Technology will give numerous GaAs thin films by selective etching of (GaAl)As/GaAs multi-layered structures.     

Substrate engineering for high efficiency thin film solar cells

The design considerations for a spectra modifying, light scattering layer for amorphous silicon solar cells were investigated. Efficient commercially available phosphors absorb one near IR photon and one near UV photon and emit one photon in the visible spectrum. Thereby such phosphors offer the possibility to convert two poorly utilized portions of the solar spectrum to photons that are converted to electric energy with high quantum efficiency in amorphous silicon-based solar cells. Large band gap, conductive, a-SiC:H and a-SiN:H are attractive matrices for phosphors as scattered light and emitted photons are thereby directed towards the underlying solar cell structure.     

Improvement of efficiency of ITO/Se thin film solar cells using tellurium stimulator

Indium Tin Oxide ITO/Se thin film solar cells have been fabricated by vacuum deposition. Prior to deposition of selenium film, ultrathin tellurium film has been deposited on ITO thin film. Tellurium film acts as a stimulator for bringing improvement in crystallite size, adhesion to ITO and electrical behaviour of selenium thin films. The maximum efficiency of the ITO/Se thin film solar cells without tellurium stimulator and with tellurium stimulator under illumination AM1 (100 mW cm⁻²) are found to be 1.68% and 2.27% while under fluorescent tubelight (0.15 mW cm⁻²) are found to be 5.85% and 7.05% respectively. The ITO/Se thin film solar cells exhibits high spectral response at short wavelength. The barrier height of the ITO/Se thin film solar cells was determined.     

The effect of electron irradiation on electrophysical properties of CdS,CdSe and ZnTe thin films

The effect of electron irradiation on electrophysical properties of CdS, CdSe and ZnTe thin films and CdS-PbTe and CdS-Te heterojunctions were studied. It was found that the effect of irradiation on thin films and devices strongly depend on the electron-irradiation doses and the preparation conditions.     

Study of ZnSe and CdSe thin film epitaxy on germanium and silicon substrates

The parameters of vaporization, mass-transfer, condensation, and epitaxial growth by hot wall technique (HWT) of ZnSe and CdSe thin films on monocrystalline Ge and Si substrates are studied (Bubnov et al.). It is shown, that the layers structure is improved as the mass transfer mechanism approaches to gasodinamical vapor flow. The influence of condensation temperature of the layers on their crystallographic structure is shown. The increase of the temperature gradient from the source towards the substrate as well as the substrate temperature conditions for growing layers of hexagonal modification. The decrease of the temperature gradient leads to cubic modification. The electron diffraction study revealed the stepwise character of the zinc selenide and cadmium selenide film growth. The knowledge of the parameters of ZnSe and CdSe thin films on monocrystalline Ge and Si by hot wall technique at relatively low substrate temperatures allows to obtain layers, suitable for formation of solid state devices for registration and reflection of optical information.     

Characterization of HF-PECVD a-Si:H thin film solar cells by using OES studies

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films show considerable potential for the fabrication of thin film solar cells. In this study, the a-Si:H thin films have been deposited in a parallel-plate radio frequency (RF) plasma reactor fed with pure SiH₄. The plasma diagnostics were performed simultaneously during the a-Si:H solar cell deposition process using an optical emission spectrometer (OES) in order to study their correlations with growth rate and microstructure of the films. During the deposition, the emitting species (SiH*, Si*, H*) was analyzed. The effect of RF power on the emission intensities of excited SiH, Si and H on the film growth rate has been investigated. The OES analysis revealed a chemisorption-based deposition model of the growth mechanism. Finally, the a-Si:H thin film solar cell with an efficiency of 7.6% has been obtained.     

Fabrication and characterization of nanorod solar cells with an ultrathin a-Si:H absorber layer

In this paper, we present a three-dimensional nanorod solar cell design. As the backbone of the nanorod device, density-controlled zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were synthesized by a simple aqueous solution growth technique at 80 °C on ZnO thin film pre-coated glass substrate. The as-prepared ZnO nanorods were coated by an amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) light absorber layer to form a nanorod solar cell. The light management, current–voltage characteristics and corresponding external quantum efficiency of the solar cells were investigated. An energy conversion efficiency of 3.9% was achieved for the nanorod solar cells with an a-Si:H absorber layer thickness of 75 nm, which is significantly higher than the 2.6% and the 3.0% obtained for cells with the same a-Si:H absorber layer thickness on planar ZnO and on textured SnO₂:F counterparts, respectively. A short-circuit current density of 11.6 mA/cm² and correspondingly, a broad external quantum efficiency profile were achieved for the nanorod device. An absorbed light fraction higher than 80% in the wavelength range of 375–675 nm was also demonstrated for the nanorod solar cells, including a peak value of ~ 90% at 520–530 nm.     

Growth and characterization of nanostructured CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe2 thin films for solar cell applications

In the present paper, we report about synthesis of nanostructured organic–inorganic heterojunction of CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ thin films by cost effective chemical route at room temperature, for solar cell application. As such obtained thin films are characterized for structural, compositional, morphological, optical and electrical properties by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical absorbance spectra and I–V response respectively. The XRD reveals the polycrystalline nature of the thin films having tetragonal crystal structure and a crystallite size of 19 nm. The presence of observed and expected elements in the EDAX spectra confirms the elemental compositions in CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ thin films. From SEM images it can be inferred that the surface morphology of the Polyaniline thin films exists like clothing fibers, while CdS/CuInSe₂ shows granular shape particles distributed over the substrate and the SEM of CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ represents mixing and attachment of circular particles to fiber like structure. The optical absorbance spectra have shown red shift in absorbance strength and energy band gap value of CdS/CuInSe₂ from ~ 1.36 eV to ~ 1.62 eV upon formation of CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ thin film. The I–V response of CdS/CuInSe₂ and CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ measured under dark and illumination to 100 mW/cm² light, exhibited the solar characteristics from these graphs and the conversion efficiency calculated is observed to be 0.26 and 0.55% for CdS/CuInSe₂ and CdS/Polyaniline/CuInSe₂ thin films respectively.     

A novel route of synthesis of WS2 thin film and its characterization

WS₂ thin films have been deposited by chemical deposition technique using citric acid as a complexing agent at 343 K. X-ray pattern shows that crystalline nature with hexagonal- and orthorhombic-mixed phase. The films show that good optical properties high absorption and band gap value was found to be 1.31 eV. The specific conductivity of the film was found to be in order of 10⁻³ (Ω cm)⁻¹.     

Electrodeposited and selenized CIGS thin films for solar cells

Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ polycrystalline thin films were deposited adopting the potentiostatic electrochemical method on Mo/soda lime glass substrate. All the as-deposited Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ thin films were annealed in a selenium atmosphere at 550 °C for 1 h to improve the film crystalline properties. The selenized CIGS thin films were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The results indicate Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ thin films have single chalcopyrite structure and the grain size varies from 0.8 to 2.5 μm.     

Fabrication and property study of thin film transistor using rf sputtered ZnO as channel layer

Fabrication of thin film transistor (TFT) using rf sputtered ZnO as channel layer is described in this paper. Deposition condition of the ZnO channel layer is investigated. It is found that metal mesh shielding of the substrate and higher oxygen partial pressure help improve the on–off ratio of the device. Levinson’s expression of drain current is successfully applied to the transfer character of the device. TFT described here would likely find its use in large area FPD to cooperate with display elements that need large current driven.     

Light harvesting architectures for electron beam evaporated solid phase crystallized Si thin film solar cells: Statistical and periodic approaches

The fabrication of light trapping architectures for electron beam (e-beam) evaporated polycrystalline Si thin film solar cells is investigated based on tailored self-organized light scattering silica nanospheres and 2 dimensional periodic nanoimprinted structures on glass. A microscopic analysis reveals a unique correlation between the microstructure of high-rate e-beam evaporated Si and the substrate topography. These features provide the basis for the design of nanostructured Si that complies with its distinctive growth characteristics. A layer of self-organized nanospheres embedded in a sol–gel matrix and an anti-reflection coating is found to be an e-beam compatible light trapping approach for poly-Si solar cells, contributing to an increase of 50% in current collection. We developed a preparation process for arrays of equidistant free-standing Si crystals with remarkable optical absorption characteristics based on a nanoimprinted glass substrate by selectively etching e-beam evaporated Si. This periodic approach opens design possibilities for effective three-dimensional architectures for advanced photon management.     

A novel structured plastic substrate for light confinement in thin film silicon solar cells by a geometric optical effect

We present a novel method to achieve light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells. Unlike the commonly used surface textures, such as Asahi U-type TCO, that rely on light scattering phenomena, we employ embossed periodically arranged micro-pyramidal structures with feature sizes much larger than the wavelength of visible light. Angular resolved transmission of light through these substrates indeed showed diffraction patterns, unlike in the case of Asahi U-type substrates, which show angular resolved scattering. Single junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells made at 125 °C on the embossed structured polycarbonate (PC) substrates showed an increase in current density by 24% compared to a similar solar cell on a flat substrate. The band gap and thickness of the i-layer made by VHF PECVD are 1.9 eV and 270 nm respectively. A double p-layer (nc-Si:H/a-Si:H) was used to make proper contact with ZnO:Al TCO.Numerical modeling, called DokterDEP was performed to fit the dark and light current–voltage parameters and understand the characteristics of the cell. The output parameters from the modeling suggest that the cells have excellent built-in potential (V_bi). However, a rather high recombination voltage, V_μ, affects the FF and short circuit current density (J_sc) for the cells on Asahi as well as for the cells on PC. A rather high parallel resistance ? 1 MΩ cm² (obtained from the modeling) infers that there is no significant shunt leakage, which is often observed for solar cells made at low temperatures on rough substrates. An efficiency of more than 6% for a cell on PC shows enormous potential of this type of light trapping structures.     

Photocatalytic properties of TiO2/ZnO thin film

ABSTRACT

TiO₂, ZnO and ZnO/TiO₂ thin films have been prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering method under different temperatures. Their photo catalytic activities have been investigated. The structural of the thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The photo catalytic activities of TiO₂ and ZnO/TiO₂ samples were evaluated by the photo decomposition of methylene blue. We note that the structural proprieties of the thin films showed a perfect crystallization along the (002) for ZnO, Rutile (110) for TiO₂ and Anatase (101) for TiO₂. The experimental results show that the bilayer ZnO/TiO₂ were the most efficient photo catalysts compared to the layer of TiO₂. This increased catalytic effect can attributed to the interface between the ZnO layer and the TiO₂ one, which modify significantly the chemical potential of the bilayer.     

Optimization and characterization of i/p buffer layer in hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon solar cells

The effect of a-Si:H i/p buffer layer on the performance of nc-Si:H solar cells is studied systematically. The results show that for thin nc-Si:H cells, an optimized i/p buffer layer significantly reduces the dark current thus increases the open-circuit voltage. We believe that the carrier recombination at the i/p interface is one of the determining factors for the nc-Si:H cell performance, especially for cells with a thin intrinsic layer. Therefore, optimizing the i/p buffer layer is one of the key factors for achieving high efficiency nc-Si:H solar cells. This interface effect is less pronounced as the nc-Si:H intrinsic layer thickness increases, where the recombination in the bulk becomes a dominant factor. Combining the improved nc-Si:H intrinsic layer with a proper hydrogen dilution and an optimized a-Si:H i/p buffer layer, the performance of nc-Si:H single-junction and a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H/nc-Si:H triple-junction cells is significantly improved.     

Fabrication of nano-crystalline silicon thin film at low temperature by using a neutral beam deposition method

Low temperature (<80 °C) neutral beam deposition (LTNBD) was investigated as a new approach to the fabrication and development of nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si), which has better properties than that of amorphous silicon (α-Si). The difference between LTNBD and conventional PECVD is that the film formation energy of the nc-Si in LTNBD is supplied by controlled neutral beam energies at a low temperature rather than by heating. Especially, in this study, the characteristics of the nc-Si thin film were investigated by adding 10% of an inert gas such as Ne, Ar or Xe to SiH₄/H₂. Increasing the beam energy resulted in an increase in the deposition rate, but the crystallinity was decreased, due to the increased damage to the substrate. However, the addition of a higher mass inert gas to the gas mixture at a fixed beam energy resulted not only in a higher deposition rate but also in a higher crystallization volume fraction. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy image showed that the grown film is composed of about 10 nm-size grains.     

Drift-mobility characterization of silicon thin-film solar cells using photocapacitance

We have applied the photocapacitance method to the measurements of hole drift-mobilities in silicon solar cells. We found a simple analysis that yields drift-mobilities even in the presence of anomalously dispersive transport. On one thick sample we measured the hole drift-mobility using both the photocapacitance and the time-of-flight methods; the two methods gave results that were consistent with each other and with the established bandtail multiple-trapping model. We then applied the method to thinner samples that are more characteristic of the conditions in solar modules, but are not generally usable for the time-of-flight method. These samples showed much smaller hole drift-mobilities than expected from the bandtail trapping model. We speculate that the hole drift-mobility has smaller values in regions close to the substrate during deposition than has been reported for thicker samples.     

Structure and physicochemical properties of thin film photosemiconductor cells based on porphine derivatives

Photosemiconductor thin films based on two organic porphine derivatives have been investigated. These compounds have different pendent groups; the film morphology, along with the specific fabrication technique, is determined to a great extent by these groups. The films have been fabricated by vacuum sputtering and using the Langmuir?Schaefer method. According to the atomic force microscopy (AFM) data, the Langmuir?Schaefer films are more homogeneous than the sputtered ones. It is shown that the sputtered films based on substituted porphine have a looser stacking than the initial analog. A spectroscopy study revealed a bathochromic shift of the Soret band in the Langmuir?Schaefer films–sputtered films series. This shift is explained by the increase in the concentration and size of molecular aggregates in sputtered films. It is shown that a polycrystalline C₆₀ fullerene film deposited onto an amorphous substituted porphine layer improves the photoelectric characteristics of the latter. Both the time stability of the photodiode structure and its ampere?watt sensitivity increase (by a factor of 10 in the transition regime). The steady-state current does not change. The effect of polarity reversal of the photovoltaic signal is observed in a planar С₆₀?substituted metalloporphine heterostructure, which is similar to the pyroelectric effect. The polarity reversal can be explained by the contribution of the trap charge and discharge current at the interface between the amorphous photosemiconductor and crystalline photosemiconductor to the resulting photoelectric current.