Reduced electrical performance of Zn enriched ZnTe nanoinclusion semiconductors thin films for buffer layer in solar cells

High-energy electron, proton, neutron, photon and ion irradiation of semiconductor diodes and solar cells has long been a topic of considerable interest in the field of semiconductor device fabrication. The inevitable damage production during the process of irradiation is used to study and engineer the defects in semiconductors. In a strong radiation environment in space, the electrical performance of solar cells is degraded due to direct exposure to energetically charged particles. A considerable amount of work has been reported on the study of radiation damage in various solar cell materials and devices in the recent past. In most cases, high-energy heavy ions damage the material by producing a large amount of extended defects, but high-energy light ions are suitable for producing and modifying the intrinsic point defects. The defects can play a variety of electronically active roles that affect the electrical, structural and optical properties of a semiconductor. This review article aims to present an overview of the advancement of research in the modification of glassy semiconducting thin films using different types of radiations (light, proton and swift heavy ions). The work which has been done in our laboratory related to irradiation induced effects in semiconducting thin films will also be compared with the existing literature.

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ZnO thin films fabricated by chemical bath deposition, used as buffer layer in organic solar cells

Applied Surface Science ◽

10.1016/j.apsusc.2009.02.054 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 255 (13-14) ◽

pp. 6615-6619 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Y. Lare ◽

A. Godoy ◽

L. Cattin ◽

K. Jondo ◽

T. Abachi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Chemical Bath Deposition ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Zno Thin Films

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Cd-Free Zn(O,S) as Alternative Buffer Layer for Chalcogenide and Kesterite Based Thin Films Solar Cells: A Review

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2020.17537 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 3622-3635 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kuldeep S. Gour ◽

Rahul Parmar ◽

Rahul Kumar ◽

Vidya N. Singh

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Low Cost ◽

Incident Light ◽

High Resistivity ◽

Short Wavelength Range ◽

Absorber Material

Cd is categorized as a toxic material with restricted use in electronics as there are inherent problems of treating waste and convincing consumers that it is properly sealed inside without any threat of precarious leaks. Apart from toxicity, band-gap of CdS is about 2.40–2.50 eV, which results significant photon loss in short-wavelength range which restricts the overall performance of solar cells. Thin film of Zn(O,S) is a favorable contender to substitute CdS thin film as buffer layer for CuInGaSe2 (CIGS), CuInGa(S,Se)2 (CIGSSe), Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe), Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film absorber material based photovoltaic due to it made from earth abundant, low cost, non-toxic materials and its ability to improve the efficiency of chalcogenide and kesterite based photovoltaic due to wider band-gap which results in reduction of absorption loss compared to CdS. In this review, apart from mentioning various deposition technique for Zn(O,S) thin films, changes in various properties i.e., optical, morphological, and opto-electrical properties of Zn(O,S) thin film deposited using various methods utilized for fabricating solar cell based on CIGS, CIGSSe, CZTS, CZTSe and CZTSSe thin films, the material has been evaluated for all the properties of buffer layer (high transparency for incident light, good conduction band lineup with absorber material, low interface recombination, high resistivity and good device stability).

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Chemical bath deposition of In2S3 thin films as promising material and buffer layer for solar cells

10.1063/1.5087389 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

P. S. Stumph ◽

K. A. Baranova ◽

M. S. Rogovoy ◽

V. V. Bunakov ◽

E. V. Maraeva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Chemical Bath Deposition ◽

Promising Material

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Efficiency Enhancement in Organic Solar Cells by Use of Cobalt Phthalocyanine (CoPc) Thin Films

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2020.17517 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 3703-3709 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

S. S. Rawat ◽

Ashish Kumar ◽

R. Srivastava ◽

C. K. Suman

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Energy Level ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Organic Solar Cells ◽

Fill Factor ◽

Series Resistance ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Acid Methyl Ester ◽

Cobalt Phthalocyanine

Cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) nano thin films have been introduced as a hole buffer layer in organic solar cells with active layer of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). The surface morphology and opto-electrical properties of the CoPc thin films have made it an applicable materials for organic solar cells. The nano-thin films of CoPc are continuously distributed over the studied area and the roughness are around 5 to 7 nm for all thickness. The dominant optical absorptions are in the visible range of wavelengths 500 to 800 nm. The CoPc buffer layer is suitable for energy level matching in energy level diagram and enhances the absorption spectrum as well, which facilitate the charge carrier generation, increases charge transport, decreases charge recombination, hence enhance the all device parameters short circuit current density (Jsc), open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF). The solar cells efficiency increases by ˜70% and the fill factor increases by ˜45% in comparison to the standard cells. The increase in efficiency and the fill factors of the solar cells may also be attributed to the increasing of shunt and lowering the series resistance of the cells. The cole–cole plots of the devices may be modeled in electrical circuit as a single parallel resistance Rb and capacitance Cb network with a series resistance Rc.

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Spin-Coating Zn-Sn-O Buffer Layer for Thin Films Solar Cells

The International Photonics and Optoelectronics Meeting (POEM) ◽

10.1364/pfe.2018.pt4b.27 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Zhigao Xie ◽

Zhenghua Su ◽

Guangxing Liang ◽

Ping Fan

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Spin Coating

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The Development of Crystalline Sb2S3 Thin Films as Buffer Layer or as Absorber Material for Three-Dimensional (3D) Solar Cells

2007 International Semiconductor Conference ◽

10.1109/smicnd.2007.4519738 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

S.A. Manolache ◽

A. Duta

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Absorber Material

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Structural and Electrical Properties of BiFeO3 Fabricated on C-Sapphire Substrates Using a Double SrTiO3/TiO2 Buffer Layer

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.687.385 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 687 ◽

pp. 385-390

Author(s):

Xiu Wei Liao ◽

Jun Zhu ◽

Wen Bo Luo ◽

Lan Zhong Hao

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Buffer Layer ◽

Remanent Polarization ◽

Perovskite Phase ◽

Buffer Layers ◽

Electrical Performance ◽

Electrical Measurements ◽

Sapphire Substrates ◽

Low Leakage ◽

Low Leakage Current

BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on c-plane sapphire substrates with a double SrTiO3/TiO2 oxide buffer layer grown by laser molecular beam epitaxy (laser-MBE). X-ray diffraction data showed the highly (111)-oriented perovskite phase in the BFO films with SrTiO3/TiO2 buffer layers, compared to the polycrystalline thin film grown directly on sapphire substrates. The epitaxial BiFeO3 thin films inherit its orientation from the underlying SrTiO3 buffer layer and have two in-plane orientations: (111)[1-10] BiFeO3 // (0001)[1-100] Al2O3 plus a twin variant related by a 180° in-plane rotation. The BiFeO3 thin films with the buffer layer show an out-of-plane remanent polarization of 81.5μC/cm2, which is comparable to the remanent polarization of BiFeO3 prepared on other single crystal substrates. Electrical measurements demonstrate that the BiFeO3 thin films with the buffer layer exhibit excellent fatigue endurance and a low leakage current density relative to the films without the buffer layer. These results indicate that the (111)-oriented BiFeO3 films with favorable electrical performance could be epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates using the double SrTiO3/TiO2 buffer layer.

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