Comparative study of AZO and ITO thin film sputtered at different temperatures and their application in Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells

Lu, Yilei; Wang, Shurong; Yang, Min; Xu, Xin; Li, Qi

doi:10.1007/s10854-018-9853-y

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Furthermore, the growth rate per cycle of the AALD Al:ZnO films is 0.94 Å/cycle, corresponding to about 0.3 Å/s. This value is lower than that (0.5-3 Å/s) obtained by using sputter [28][29][30][31], but in terms of total deposition time, the AALD method would take more advantages since it does not require a vacuum environment. For example, for a 60 nm-thick Al:ZnO film, the AALD method takes about 40 min to finish the deposition, whereas the sputter technique may require more time as it needs to reach high degree of vacuum before deposition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Air Annealing Effect on Oxygen Vacancy Defects in Al-doped ZnO Films Grown by High-Speed Atmospheric Atomic Layer Deposition

Hsu

Geng

et al. 2020

Molecules

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In this study, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (Al:ZnO) thin films were grown by high-speed atmospheric atomic layer deposition (AALD), and the effects of air annealing on film properties are investigated. The experimental results show that the thermal annealing can significantly reduce the amount of oxygen vacancies defects as evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra due to the in-diffusion of oxygen from air to the films. As shown by X-ray diffraction, the annealing repairs the crystalline structure and releases the stress. The absorption coefficient of the films increases with the annealing temperature due to the increased density. The annealing temperature reaching 600 °C leads to relatively significant changes in grain size and band gap. From the results of band gap and Hall-effect measurements, the annealing temperature lower than 600 °C reduces the oxygen vacancies defects acting as shallow donors, while it is suspected that the annealing temperature higher than 600 °C can further remove the oxygen defects introduced mid-gap states.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Air Annealing Effect on Oxygen Vacancy Defects in Al-doped ZnO Films Grown by High-Speed Atmospheric Atomic Layer Deposition

Hsu

Geng

et al. 2020

Molecules

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“…Thin oxide films, used as contact electrodes [1–4], are considered to be important components of photovoltaic cells [5–6]. As an electrode candidate for solar cells, an ITO film [7–8] must present excellent optical and electrical properties for increased energy generation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an electrode candidate for solar cells, an ITO film [7–8] must present excellent optical and electrical properties for increased energy generation. At this time, the goal is to obtain high-performance solar cells [6,9–10] but at a cost as low as possible. ITO is an attractive material because it exhibits excellent properties as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material that can be tuned during deposition in order to obtain materials for specific applications [7,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

Prepelita¹,

Stavarache²,

Crǎciun³

et al. 2019

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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In this work, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was applied to indium tin oxide (ITO) films in ambient atmosphere, resulting in significant improvements of the quality of the ITO films that are commonly used as conductive transparent electrodes for photovoltaic structures. Starting from a single sintered target (purity 99.95%), ITO thin films of predefined thickness (230 nm, 300 nm and 370 nm) were deposited at room temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS). After deposition, the films were subjected to a RTA process at 575 °C (heating rate 20 °C/s), maintained at this temperature for 10 minutes, then cooled down to room temperature at a rate of 20 °C/s. The film structure was modified by changing the deposition thickness or the RTA process. X-ray diffraction investigations revealed a cubic nanocrystalline structure for the as-deposited ITO films. After RTA, polycrystalline compounds with a textured (222) plane were observed. X-ray photon spectroscopy was used to confirm the beneficial effect of the RTA treatment on the ITO chemical composition. Using a Tauc plot, values of the optical band gap ranging from 3.17 to 3.67 eV were estimated. These values depend on the heat treatment and the thickness of the sample. Highly conductive indium tin oxide thin films (ρ = 7.4 × 10−5 Ω cm) were obtained after RTA treatment in an open atmosphere. Such films could be used to manufacture transparent contact electrodes for solar cells.

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“…That's to say, higher substrate temperature is conducive to improve the crystallization of the thin lms. According to the literature, with the increase of the deposition temperature, the mobility of the growing species on substrate is greatly enhanced [7,27,28]. Therefore, the nucleation of the growing species is improved, further promoting the crystallinity and reducing the defects of AZO thin lms.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

RF magnetron sputtering processed transparent conductive aluminum doped ZnO thin films with excellent optical and electrical properties

Zhao

Liu²,

Guo

et al. 2021

J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

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Aluminum doped ZnO thin lms (AZO), which simultaneously transmit light and conduct electrical current, are widely applied in photovoltaic devices. To achieve high performance AZO thin lms, the effects of RF magnetron sputtering conditions on the optical and electrical properties of the lms has been explored. The optimized AZO thin lms exhibit strong (002) orientated growth with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The minimum resistivity of 0.9Í10 -3 Ω•cm, the highest carrier concentration of 2.8Í10 20 cm -3 , the best Hall mobility of 22.8 cm 2 •(V•s) -1 and average transmittance above 85% can be achieved at the optimum deposition condition of 0.2 Pa, 120 W and 200 °C. Considering the single parabolic band model, the bandgap shift by carrier concentration of the lms can be attributed to the Burstein-Moss effect. The results indicate that RF magnetron sputtered AZO thin lms are promising for solar cell applications relying on front contact layers.

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Comparative study of AZO and ITO thin film sputtered at different temperatures and their application in Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Air Annealing Effect on Oxygen Vacancy Defects in Al-doped ZnO Films Grown by High-Speed Atmospheric Atomic Layer Deposition

Air Annealing Effect on Oxygen Vacancy Defects in Al-doped ZnO Films Grown by High-Speed Atmospheric Atomic Layer Deposition

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

RF magnetron sputtering processed transparent conductive aluminum doped ZnO thin films with excellent optical and electrical properties

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