Amorphous inorganic semiconductors for the development of solar cell, photoelectrocatalytic and photocatalytic applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Wang ◽  
Gill M. Biesold ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Zhiqun Lin

Amorphous inorganic semiconductors with unique optical and electrical properties are reviewed for applications in solar cells, photoelectrochemistry and photocatalysis.

2011 ◽  
Vol 1352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiguang Li ◽  
Lin Pu ◽  
Mool C. Gupta

ABSTRACTRecently, few tens of nanometer thin films of TiOx have been intensively studied in applications for organic solar cells as optical spacers, environmental protection and hole blocking. In this paper we provide initial measurements of optical and electrical properties of TiOx thin films and it’s applications in solar cell and sensor devices. The TiOx material was made through hydrolysis of the precursor synthesized from titanium isopropoxide, 2-methoxyethanol, and ethanolamine. The TiOx thin films of thickness between 20 nm to 120 nm were obtained by spin coating process. The refractive index of TiOx thin films were measured using an ellipsometric technique and an optical reflection method. At room temperature, the refractive index of TiOx thin film was found to be 1.77 at a wavelength of 600 nm. The variation of refractive index under various thermal annealing conditions was also studied. The increase in refractive index with high temperature thermal annealing process was observed, allowing the opportunity to obtain refractive index values between 1.77 and 2.57 at a wavelength 600 nm. The refractive index variation is due to the TiOx phase and density changes under thermal annealing.The electrical resistance was measured by depositing a thin film of TiOx between ITO and Al electrode. The electrical resistivity of TiOx thin film was found to be 1.7×107 Ω.cm as measured by vertical transmission line method. We have also studied the variation of electrical resistivity with temperature. The temperature coefficient of electrical resistance for 60 nm TiOx thin film was demonstrated as - 6×10-3/°C. A linear temperature dependence of resistivity between the temperature values of 20 – 100 °C was observed.The TiOx thin films have been demonstrated as a low cost solution processable antireflection layer for Si solar cells. The results indicate that the TiOx layer can reduce the surface reflection of the silicon as low as commonly used vacuum deposited Si3N4 thin films.


2013 ◽  
Vol 832 ◽  
pp. 404-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fazlinashatul Suhaidah Zahid ◽  
Puteri Sarah Mohamad Saad ◽  
Mohamad Rusop Mahmood

In recent years, the research on organic solar cells systems based on nanocomposite containing conjugated polymers has lead to great attention with the aim or replacing conventional inorganic solar cells. This nanocomposite can be processed at lower cost, low weight and ease of synthesis with greater versatility than todays solar cell. In this study, we investigated the dependence of physical, optical and electrical properties on the thickness of MEH-PPV: TiO2 nanocomposite thin films for organic solar cell application. It was found the optical properties of photo-active layer MEH-PPV: TiO2 nanocomposite thin films improved with increasing its thickness however the electrical properties decreased. The absorption coefficients of photoactive layer are high in the visible region (400-600 nm) with optimum absorption region at 500 nm. The shift of absorption edge toward longer wavelength with increased of nanocomposite photoactive layer thickness due to narrowing band gap caused by the effects of electron-electron and electron-impurity scattering. In addition the study of illuminated current-voltage (I-V) characteristics revealed the increment of recombination process with increased of photoactive layer thicknesses. It was found such increased in resistivity from 136x103 to 1600x103 Ω.cm is closely related to the electric field and exciton dissociation which is decreased with increased photoactive thickness.


2011 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 401-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. CHER ◽  
S. YICK ◽  
S. XU ◽  
Z. J. HAN ◽  
K. OSTRIKOV

Al -doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films are deposited onto glass substrates using radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and the improvements in their physical properties by post-synthesis thermal treatment are reported. X-ray diffraction spectra show that the structure of films can be controlled by adjusting the annealing temperatures, with the best crystallinity obtained at 400°C under a nitrogen atmosphere. These films exhibit improved quality and better optical transmittance as indicated by the UV-Vis spectra. Furthermore, the sheet resistivity is found to decrease from 1.87 × 10-3 to 5.63 × 10-4Ω⋅cm and the carrier mobility increases from 6.47 to 13.43 cm2 ⋅ V-1 ⋅ s-1 at the optimal annealing temperature. Our results demonstrate a simple yet effective way in controlling the structural, optical and electrical properties of AZO thin films, which is important for solar cell applications.


2019 ◽  

Transparent conducting oxide (TCO) thin films are materials of significance for their applications in optoelectronics and sun powered cells. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is an elective material in the advancement of TCO films. This paper reports the impact of fluorine doping on structural, optical and electrical properties of tin oxide thin films for solar cells application. The sol-gel was prepared from anhydrous stannous chloride, SnCl2 as an originator, 2-methoxyethanol as a solvent, di-ethanolamine as a preservative and ammonium fluoride as the dopant source. FTO precursor solution was formulated to obtain 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 % doping concentration and deposited on glass substrates by means of spin coater at the rate of 2000 rpm for 40 seconds. After pre-heated at 200 oC, the samples were annealed at 600 oC for 2 h. The structural, optical and electrical characteristics of prepared films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy and electrical measurement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation of the films demonstrated that the films were polycrystalline in nature with tetragonal-cassiterite structure with most extraordinary pinnacle having a grain size of 17.01 nm. Doping with fluorine decreases the crystallite size. There was increment in the absorbance of the film with increasing wavelength and the transmittance was basically reduced with increasing fluorine doping in the visible region. The energy band gaps were in the range of 4.106-4.121 eV. The sheet resistance were observed to decrease as the doping percentage of fluorine increased with exception at higher doping of 15 and 20 %. In view of these outcomes, FTO thin films prepared could have useful application in transparent conducting oxide electrode in solar cell.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2114 (1) ◽  
pp. 012044
Author(s):  
Mussab J. Ahmed ◽  
Ayed N. Saleh

Abstract In this research, the effect of bulk defect on the performance of the solar cell was studied by using the AFORS-HET simulation program. This was done by varying the density of defects including both Acceptor-like and donor-like within the SnS absorption layer. The thickness of the SnS layer was changed from 600nm to 9000nm with the change in bulk defect density in the same layer from (1E10 to 1E17 cm−3). The results showed that when the density of defects is less than 1E14cm−3, it has no effect on the performance of the solar cell, but its effect appears after this concentration, On the contrary, it is the effect of thickness, the results showed that the change in thickness at the defect density of E16cm−3 does not affect on the optical and electrical properties. Also, the results showed that the effect of defects is greatest at low concentrations of Na impurities, and this effect begins to decrease with increasing the concentration of impurities.


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