Preparation and characterization of CdS thin film using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique for solar cell application

The structural properties of CBD deposited CdS thin films have been studied by varying the processing parameters and Cd/S ratio of the starting Precursors in order to better understand the growth conditions. A CdS thin film was prepared on glass substrate by CBD method from a bath containing Thiourea and Ammonium hydroxide. The structural analysis was performed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). The deposited CdS thin film was a cubic phase with small nano crystalline grains. The film was deposited at 60°C for 2 hours. After sintering the film at 300°C for 1 hour the color of the film was changed like dark yellowish and the thickness of the film was obtained 100 nm. The FTIR was done at room temperature over 350 cm-1 to 4500 cm-1 and it showed the existence of different functional group in the sample and their probable source. These studies have allowed us to establish a standard set of conditions for the fabrication of homogeneous and continuous very thin CdS films in laboratory and this preparation technique is also suitable for preparing highly efficient thin film due to its advantages such as simple, large area films, low deposition temperature and low-cost method.

The Characterization of Amorphous AZO-n/Si-p Hetrojunction Diode for Solar Cell Application

The aim of the present study is to verify the effect of annealing temperature variation on zinc oxide doped with aluminum (AZO) thin films deposited on p-type silicon (Si) substrates. Here, AZO/p-Si heterojunction was annealed in nitrogen environment and its structural, electrical, and optical characterizations were investigated. The results of XRD patterns showed the amorphous structure of AZO thin films. FE-SEM images illustrated the increase of grain size by increasing annealing temperature up to 500oC. The reflectance analysis showed that for this annealing temperature, that the energy band gap of AZO thin film was moved to higher energy level. The electrical properties were investigated by I–V measurement carried out in the light at room temperatures. The short circuit current (ISC), ideality factor, saturation current, and open circuit voltage (VOC) of the AZO/p-Si heterojunction strongly depended on annealing conditions due to charge carrier trapping and density of defect on interface. By considering IR and IF as reverse and forward current, the ration of IF/IR had the maximum value at 1 V which was belonged to n-AZO/p-Si heterojunction at 500oC annealing temperature.

Effect of treatment condition on perovskite film for perovskite solar cell application

In this study, the Perovskite material CH3NH3PbI3 was prepared using two-step sequential solution deposition technique. The treatment condition for Perovskite film including dipping duration, reaction temperature and annealing temperature was studied. Crystal structure, grain size, and purity of the prepared material were examined using XRD and SEM methods. The results indicate that controlling treatment condition has a significant effect on the crystallinity and purity of Perovskite film. Under suitable condition, the obtained Perovskite material has a tetragonal structure and grain size ranges from 200 to 400 nm. The Perovskite film was then applied as a light-harvesting material in Perovskite solar cell. The device exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 5.18% with JSC of 13.6 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.83 V, and fill factor of 45.9%.

Optimization of Antireflection Coating Design Using PC1D Simulation for c − Si Solar Cell Application

Minimizing the photon losses by depositing an anti-reflection layer can increase the conversion efficiency of the solar cells. In this paper, the impact of anti-reflection coating (ARC) for enhancing the efficiency of silicon solar cells is presented. Initially, the refractive indices and reflectance of various ARC materials were computed numerically using the OPAL2 calculator. After which, the reflectance of SiO2,TiO2,SiNx with different refractive indices (n) were used for analyzing the performance of a silicon solar cells coated with these materials using PC1D simulator. SiNx and TiO2 as single-layer anti-reflection coating (SLARC) yielded a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 38.4 mA/cm2 and 38.09mA/cm2 respectively. Highest efficiency of 20.7% was obtained for the SiNx ARC layer with n=2.15. With Double-layer anti-reflection coating (DLARC), the Jsc improved by ∼0.5 mA/cm2 for SiO2/SiNx layer and hence the efficiency by 0.3%. Blue loss reduces significantly for the DLARC compared with SLARC and hence increase in Jsc by 1 mA/cm2 is observed. The Jsc values obtained is in good agreement with the reflectance values of the ARC layers. The solar cell with DLARC obtained from the study showed that improved conversion efficiency of 21.1% is obtained. Finally, it is essential to understand that the key parameters identified in this simulation study concerning the DLARC fabrication will make experimental validation faster and cheaper.

New Strategy for Creating TiO2 Thin Films with Embedded Au Nanoparticles

This paper proposes a new strategy for producing thin films of TiO2 with embedded gold nanoparticles (TiO2/AuNP). One of the main tasks was the synthesis of a stable dispersion of TiO2 and gold nanoparticles in an aqueous solution of ethylene glycol, suitable for inkjet printing—ink with complex gold nanoparticles (AuCNP ink). The AuCNP were synthesized by a reduction from tetrachloroauric acid in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles and ethylene glycol (EG). The final formation of TiO2/AuNP films occurred during the annealing of AuCNP layers, inkjet printed on a glass substrate. The TiO2/AuNP films demonstrate absorbance in the yellow-green range due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and are promising for solar cell application.