Fabrication and characterization of ZnO nano wires/Cd Se/CuSCN eta-solar cell Tena-Zaera, R; Ryan, M A; Abou, Katty; Hodes, G; Bastide, St; Levy-Clement, C [LCMTR, Institut des sciences chimiques Seine-Amont, CNRS, 94 - Thiais (France)]; Tena-Zaera, R [Valancia Univ., Dept. Fisica Aplicada i Electromagnetisme (Spain)]; Ryan, M A [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)]; Hodes, G [Weizmann Institute of Science, Dept. of Materials and Interfaces, Rehovot (Israel)] 14 SOLAR ENERGY; ANNEALING; CADMIUM SELENIDES; EFFICIENCY; ELECTRODEPOSITION; GRAIN SIZE; NANOSTRUCTURES; SOLAR CELLS; SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION; ZINC OXIDES ZnO/CdSe/CuSCN extremely thin absorber (eta)-solar cells based on ZnO nano-wires have been successfully realized using easily accessible electrochemical and solution deposition techniques. An n-type ZnO film consisting of free-standing single crystal nano-wires several microns high and 100-200 nm in diameter was-deposited on a conducting glass (SnO{sub 2}:F) substrate covered by a thin spray pyrolysis ZnO electronic blocking layer. A 30-40-nm-thin layer of CdSe absorber was electrodeposited, coating the ZnO nano-wires. The voids between the ZnO/CdSe nano-wires were filled with p-type CuSCN; the entire assembly formed a p-i-n junction. The ZnO/CdSe nano-wire layer exhibited a high light-trapping effect, with an effective absorbance of {approx}89% and effective reflectance of {approx}8% in the 400-800 nm region of the solar spectrum (AM1.5). The effects of an annealing process on the CdSe grain size and on the energy conversion efficiency of the eta-solar cell have been analyzed. The obtained efficiencies, for cells with annealed CdSe (1.5-2.3%) show that the ZnO/CdSe/CuSCN nano-heterostructure is an interesting option for developing new solar cell devices. (authors) Available from doi: <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crci.2005.03.034>;INIS France 2006-05-15 English Journal Article Journal Name: Comptes Rendus. Chimie; Journal Issue: 5-6t.9; Conference: 15. international conference on photochemical conversion and storage of solar energy, 15. conference international sur la conversion photochimique et le stockage de l'energie solaire, Paris (France), 4-7 Jul 2004; Other Information: 37 refs Medium: X; Size: page(s) 717-729 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CRCI.2005.03.034> [] 5-6t.9 Journal ID: ISSN 1631-0748; TRN: FR0602577087384 FRN 2010-12-31 20783983