High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance
A heterostructure of Sn-doped In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>(ITO)/Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/n-Si was proposed and studied for photovoltaics. The top ITO worked as a transparent conducting layer for excellent optical transparency and current collection. The AZO/n-Si served as the activ...
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doaj-edc028e8da51422b85600e72107b3efc2020-11-25T04:03:14ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172020-07-01105285528510.3390/app10155285High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic PerformanceChong Tong0Manjeet Kumar1Ju-Hyung Yun2Joondong Kim3Sung Jin Kim4Department of Electrical Engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USADepartment of Electrical Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 406772, KoreaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 406772, KoreaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon 406772, KoreaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USAA heterostructure of Sn-doped In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>(ITO)/Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/n-Si was proposed and studied for photovoltaics. The top ITO worked as a transparent conducting layer for excellent optical transparency and current collection. The AZO/n-Si served as the active junction and provided the built-in potential (<i>qV<sub>bi</sub></i>) for the photovoltaic devices. To achieve a higher open circuit voltage (V<sub>oc</sub>), which is the main challenge for AZO/Si heterojunctions due to the junction interfacial defects, the AZO and AZO/Si junction properties were systematically investigated. By modulating the Al doping in the AZO thin films via a dual beam co-sputtering technique, the AZO/n-Si junction quality was significantly improved with <i>qV<sub>bi</sub></i> increased from 0.21 eV to 0.74 eV. As a result, the V<sub>oc </sub>of our best device was enhanced from 0.14 V to 0.42 V, with a short circuit current (J<sub>sc</sub>) of 26.04 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> and a conversion efficiency (E<sub>ff</sub>) of 5.03%. To our best knowledge, this is the highest V<sub>oc</sub> reported for ZnO/Si heterojunctions prepared by the sputtering method. The results confirmed the validity of our proposed structure and junction engineering approach and provided new insights and opportunities for ZnO/Si heterojunction optoelectronics.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/15/5285Al-ZnO/Si heterojunction photovoltaicjunction engineeringbuilt-in potentialthin film stress release |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Chong Tong Manjeet Kumar Ju-Hyung Yun Joondong Kim Sung Jin Kim |
spellingShingle |
Chong Tong Manjeet Kumar Ju-Hyung Yun Joondong Kim Sung Jin Kim High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance Applied Sciences Al-ZnO/Si heterojunction photovoltaic junction engineering built-in potential thin film stress release |
author_facet |
Chong Tong Manjeet Kumar Ju-Hyung Yun Joondong Kim Sung Jin Kim |
author_sort |
Chong Tong |
title |
High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance |
title_short |
High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance |
title_full |
High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance |
title_fullStr |
High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance |
title_full_unstemmed |
High-Quality ITO/Al-ZnO/n-Si Heterostructures with Junction Engineering for Improved Photovoltaic Performance |
title_sort |
high-quality ito/al-zno/n-si heterostructures with junction engineering for improved photovoltaic performance |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Applied Sciences |
issn |
2076-3417 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
A heterostructure of Sn-doped In<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>(ITO)/Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/n-Si was proposed and studied for photovoltaics. The top ITO worked as a transparent conducting layer for excellent optical transparency and current collection. The AZO/n-Si served as the active junction and provided the built-in potential (<i>qV<sub>bi</sub></i>) for the photovoltaic devices. To achieve a higher open circuit voltage (V<sub>oc</sub>), which is the main challenge for AZO/Si heterojunctions due to the junction interfacial defects, the AZO and AZO/Si junction properties were systematically investigated. By modulating the Al doping in the AZO thin films via a dual beam co-sputtering technique, the AZO/n-Si junction quality was significantly improved with <i>qV<sub>bi</sub></i> increased from 0.21 eV to 0.74 eV. As a result, the V<sub>oc </sub>of our best device was enhanced from 0.14 V to 0.42 V, with a short circuit current (J<sub>sc</sub>) of 26.04 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> and a conversion efficiency (E<sub>ff</sub>) of 5.03%. To our best knowledge, this is the highest V<sub>oc</sub> reported for ZnO/Si heterojunctions prepared by the sputtering method. The results confirmed the validity of our proposed structure and junction engineering approach and provided new insights and opportunities for ZnO/Si heterojunction optoelectronics. |
topic |
Al-ZnO/Si heterojunction photovoltaic junction engineering built-in potential thin film stress release |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/15/5285 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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