Abstract
In this paper, three kinds of textured ZnO thin-films (the first kind has the textured structure with both columnar and polygon, the second posses pyramid-like textured structure only, and the third has the textured structure with both crater-like and pyramid-like), were prepared by three kinds of methods, and the application of these ZnO thin-films as a front electrode in solar cell was studied, respectively. In the first method with negative bias voltage and appropriate sputtering parameters, the textured structure with columnar and polygon on the surface of ZnO thin-film are both existence for the sample prepared by direct magnetron sputtering. Using as a front electrode in solar cell, the photoelectric conversion efficiency Eff of 7.00% was obtained. The second method is that by sputtering on the ZnO:Al self-supporting substrate, and the distribution of pyramid-like was gained. Moreover, the higher (8.25%) photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cell was got. The last method is that by acid-etching the as-deposited ZnO thin-film which possesses mainly both columnar and polygon structure, and the textured ZnO thin-film with both crater-like and pyramid-like structure was obtained, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cell is 7.10% when using it as front electrode. These results show that the textured ZnO thin-film prepared on self-supporting substrate is more suitable for using as a front electrode in amorphous silicon cells.
Highlights
As a front electrode, the tin oxide doped with fluorine (SnO2:F) has been the most favored transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells, due to its high temperature resistant substrates such as glass [1] or metal foils [2]
These results show that the textured zinc oxide (ZnO) thin-film prepared on self-supporting substrate is more suitable for using as a front electrode in amorphous silicon cells
Compared with SnO2:F, the textured aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin-film has the equivalent electrical properties, and it has a lot of advantages, such as high electrical properties stability against hydrogen plasma, effective light trapping action, which is favorable to improve the a-Si:H solar cell performance as a front electrode, and it has attracted a great deal of attention [4,5,6]
Summary
The tin oxide doped with fluorine (SnO2:F) has been the most favored transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells, due to its high temperature resistant substrates such as glass [1] or metal foils [2]. Compared with SnO2:F, the textured aluminum doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin-film has the equivalent electrical properties, and it has a lot of advantages, such as high electrical properties stability against hydrogen plasma, effective light trapping action, which is favorable to improve the a-Si:H solar cell performance as a front electrode, and it has attracted a great deal of attention [4,5,6]. It is difficult to be in master of the acid etching craft; and the textured ZnO thin-film with crater-like structure has poor performance in light trapping comparing to those with pyramid-like structure [9]. In order to compare the light trapping effect of these thin-films, the solar cells’ performance using three different kinds of ZnO thin-films as a front electrode are investigated, respectively
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