Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells
Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) grown by expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition (ETP-CVD) has demonstrated excellent electrical and optical properties, which make it an attractive candidate as a transparent conductive oxide for photovoltaic applications. However, when depositing ZnO...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2014-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/253140 |
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| author | K. Sharma B. L. Williams A. Mittal H. C. M. Knoops B. J. Kniknie N. J. Bakker W. M. M. Kessels R. E. I. Schropp M. Creatore |
| author_facet | K. Sharma B. L. Williams A. Mittal H. C. M. Knoops B. J. Kniknie N. J. Bakker W. M. M. Kessels R. E. I. Schropp M. Creatore |
| author_sort | K. Sharma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) grown by expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition (ETP-CVD) has demonstrated excellent electrical and optical properties, which make it an attractive candidate as a transparent conductive oxide for photovoltaic applications. However, when depositing ZnO:Al on CIGS solar cell stacks, one should be aware that high substrate temperature processing (i.e., >200°C) can damage the crucial underlying layers/interfaces (such as CIGS/CdS and CdS/i-ZnO). In this paper, the potential of adopting ETP-CVD ZnO:Al in CIGS solar cells is assessed: the effect of substrate temperature during film deposition on both the electrical properties of the ZnO:Al and the eventual performance of the CIGS solar cells was investigated. For ZnO:Al films grown using the high thermal budget (HTB) condition, lower resistivities, ρ, were achievable (~5 × 10−4 Ω·cm) than those grown using the low thermal budget (LTB) conditions (~2 × 10−3 Ω·cm), whereas higher CIGS conversion efficiencies were obtained for the LTB condition (up to 10.9%) than for the HTB condition (up to 9.0%). Whereas such temperature-dependence of CIGS device parameters has previously been linked with chemical migration between individual layers, we demonstrate that in this case it is primarily attributed to the prevalence of shunt currents. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-31a6ae990c5d4fdba4c4f66e23b71afa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1110-662X 1687-529X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| spelling | doaj-art-31a6ae990c5d4fdba4c4f66e23b71afa2025-02-03T01:31:58ZengWileyInternational Journal of Photoenergy1110-662X1687-529X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/253140253140Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar CellsK. Sharma0B. L. Williams1A. Mittal2H. C. M. Knoops3B. J. Kniknie4N. J. Bakker5W. M. M. Kessels6R. E. I. Schropp7M. Creatore8Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsTNO, P.O. Box 6235, 5600 HE Eindhoven, The NetherlandsSolliance, High Tech Campus 21, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsDepartment of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The NetherlandsAluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) grown by expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition (ETP-CVD) has demonstrated excellent electrical and optical properties, which make it an attractive candidate as a transparent conductive oxide for photovoltaic applications. However, when depositing ZnO:Al on CIGS solar cell stacks, one should be aware that high substrate temperature processing (i.e., >200°C) can damage the crucial underlying layers/interfaces (such as CIGS/CdS and CdS/i-ZnO). In this paper, the potential of adopting ETP-CVD ZnO:Al in CIGS solar cells is assessed: the effect of substrate temperature during film deposition on both the electrical properties of the ZnO:Al and the eventual performance of the CIGS solar cells was investigated. For ZnO:Al films grown using the high thermal budget (HTB) condition, lower resistivities, ρ, were achievable (~5 × 10−4 Ω·cm) than those grown using the low thermal budget (LTB) conditions (~2 × 10−3 Ω·cm), whereas higher CIGS conversion efficiencies were obtained for the LTB condition (up to 10.9%) than for the HTB condition (up to 9.0%). Whereas such temperature-dependence of CIGS device parameters has previously been linked with chemical migration between individual layers, we demonstrate that in this case it is primarily attributed to the prevalence of shunt currents.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/253140 |
| spellingShingle | K. Sharma B. L. Williams A. Mittal H. C. M. Knoops B. J. Kniknie N. J. Bakker W. M. M. Kessels R. E. I. Schropp M. Creatore Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells International Journal of Photoenergy |
| title | Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells |
| title_full | Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells |
| title_fullStr | Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells |
| title_short | Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells |
| title_sort | expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition of zno al layers for cigs solar cells |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/253140 |
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