APCVD of dual layer transparent conductive oxides for photovoltaic applications

Yates, HM; Gaskell, JM; Thomson, ME; Sheel, DW; Delaup, B; Morales-Masis, M

Abstract

We report the atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) of a dual layer transparent conductive oxide (TCO). This combines a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) base layer with a fluorine doped zinc oxide (FZO) top layer, where we seek to utilise the respective advantages of each material and the differences in their associated industrial deposition process technologies. Deposition of a 250 nm thick FZO layer on FTO was enough to develop features seen with FZO only layers. The crystallographic orientation determined by the FZO dopant concentration. Changes to the deposition parameters of the underlying FTO layer effected stack roughness and carrier concentration, and hence optical scattering and absorption. Photovoltaic cells have been fabricated using this TCO structure showing promising performance, with efficiencies as high as 10.21% compared to reference FTO only values of 9.02%.

The bulk of the coating was FTO, providing the majority of conductivity and the large surface features associated with this material, whilst keeping the overall cost low by utilising the very fast growth rates achievable. The FTO was capped with a thinner FZO layer to provide a top surface suitable for wet chemical or plasma etching, allowing the surface morphology to be tuned for specific applications.

Citation

Yates, H., Gaskell, J., Thomson, M., Sheel, D., Delaup, B., & Morales-Masis, M. (2015). APCVD of dual layer transparent conductive oxides for photovoltaic applications. Thin Solid Films, 590, 260-265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2015.08.014

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 11, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Aug 13, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 11, 2017
• Journal: Thin Solid Films
• Print ISSN: 0040-6090
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 590
• Pages: 260-265
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2015.08.014
• Keywords: zinc oxide; tin oxide; atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition; PV
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2015.08.014
• Related Public URLs: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/product/cws_home/504106/description
• Additional Information: Projects : N2P;PLIANT