Growth of Cu{sub 2}O on Ga-doped ZnO and their interface energy alignment for thin film solar cells

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3465445· OSTI ID:21476405

Wong, L M; Chiam, S Y; Wang, S J; Pan, J S ^[1]; Huang, J Q; Chim, W K ^[2]

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1. Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A-STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), 3 Research Link, Singapore 117602 (Singapore)
2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576 (Singapore)

Cu{sub 2}O thin films are deposited by direct current reactive magnetron sputtering on borofloat glass and indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass at room temperature. The effect of oxygen partial pressure on the structures and properties of Cu{sub 2}O thin films are investigated. We show that oxygen partial pressure is a crucial parameter in achieving pure phases of CuO and Cu{sub 2}O. Based on this finding, we fabricate heterojunctions of p-type Cu{sub 2}O with n-type gallium doped ZnO (GZO) on ITO coated glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition for GZO thin films. The energy band alignment for thin films of Cu{sub 2}O/GZO on ITO glass is characterized using high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The energy band alignment for the Cu{sub 2}O/GZO heterojunctions is determined to be type II with a valence band offset of 2.82 eV and shows negligible effects of variation with gallium doping. The higher conduction band of the Cu{sub 2}O relative to that of GZO in the obtained band alignment shows that the heterojunctions are suitable for solar cell application based on energy levels consideration.

• OSTI ID: 21476405
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 108, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3465445; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
COPPER OXIDES
DOPED MATERIALS
ENERGY BEAM DEPOSITION
ENERGY LEVELS
GALLIUM
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INTERFACES
LASER RADIATION
PARTIAL PRESSURE
P-N JUNCTIONS
PULSED IRRADIATION
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SOLAR CELLS
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
SURFACE ENERGY
THIN FILMS
TIN OXIDES
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ZINC OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
DEPOSITION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
EQUIPMENT
FILMS
FREE ENERGY
IRRADIATION
MATERIALS
METALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTROSCOPY
SURFACE COATING
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TIN COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
ZINC COMPOUNDS