Electrical and photovoltaic properties of tin oxide-silicon heterojunctions

Abstract

SnO 2-Si heterojunctions, using n-type and p-type single crystals of silicon, were fabricated by depositing tin oxide using a chemical vapour deposition technique. The electrical and photovoltaic characteristics of these heterojunctions were investigated. The polarity observed in V oc and I sc is consistent with the band bending of a simple SnO 2Si heterojunction energy band diagram, neglecting interface states. The results also show that the (n−n) SnO 2Si heterojunction has better electrical and photovoltaic characteristics than the (n−p) SnO 2Si heterojunction. Typical values of V oc and J sc (under Air Mass 1 conditions) for an (n−n) SnO 2Si heterojunction are 0.485 V and 16.0 mA cm -2 respectively, resulting in an efficiency of nearly 5%.