AlZnO magnetron sputtered thin film for photovoltaic application

Zohreh  Ghorannevis; Mehran  Jamalpourkolour; Arash  Boochani; Arash  Yari; Nosratali  Vahabzadeh; Parnia  Goudarzi

doi:10.59400/esc.v2i2.1151

AlZnO magnetron sputtered thin film for photovoltaic application

Zohreh Ghorannevis Department of Physics, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran
Mehran Jamalpourkolour Department of Physics, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran
Arash Boochani Department of Physics, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran
Arash Yari Department of Physics, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran
Nosratali Vahabzadeh Department of Physics, Parsabad Moghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Parsabad Moghan, Iran
Parnia Goudarzi Plasma Physics Research Center, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Ariticle ID: 1151

228 Views, 122 PDF Downloads

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59400/esc.v2i2.1151

Keywords: AZO; sputtering; photovoltaic; thin film solar cell; DFT

Abstract

Aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) is a nontoxic and low-cost material that finds application as a transparent conducting electrode in photovoltaic devices. In this study, the (direct current) DC magnetron sputtering of AZO films is carried out at different deposition times of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 min’s at room temperature, and its structural, optical, electrical, and morphological properties are studied for its use as a front contact for thin film solar cell application. The structural study suggests that the preferred orientation of grains along the (002) plane has a hexagonal structure, and the optical and electrical studies suggest that the films show an average transmission of 70% and a resistivity of the order of 10^-4Ω cm. On the other hand, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images suggest the formation of packed grains with a homogeneous surface. Moreover, in order to study the optoelectronic properties of prepared samples, the electronic and optical calculations of the AZO are performed by the first-principles calculations using density functional theory (DFT).

References

[1] Badgujar AC, Yadav BS, Jha GK, et al. Room Temperature Sputtered Aluminum-Doped ZnO Thin Film Transparent Electrode for Application in Solar Cells and for Low-Band-Gap Optoelectronic Devices. ACS Omega. 2022; 7(16): 14203-14210. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c00830

[2] Aïssa B, Hossain MI. Photonic Cooler Based on Multistacked Thin Films with Near-Infrared Filter Properties. ACS Omega. 2024; 9(3): 3295-3304. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05561

[3] Pal S, Basak D. Interaction of an Ultrathin Zinc Surface Passivation Layer with a Room Temperature-Deposited Al-Doped ZnO Film Leading to Highly Improved Electrical Transport Properties. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2023; 127(29): 14439–14449. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c02329

[4] Petrova D, Napoleonov B, Minh CNH, et al. The Effect of Post Deposition Treatment on Properties of ALD Al-Doped ZnO Films. Nanomaterials. 2023; 13(5): 800. doi: 10.3390/nano13050800

[5] Yang B, Yao C, Yu Y, et al. Nature Degradable, Flexible, and Transparent Conductive Substrates from Green and Earth-Abundant Materials. Scientific Reports. 2017; 7, 4936. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04969-y

[6] Chauhan RN, Tiwari N, Anand RS, et al. Development of Al-doped ZnO thin film as a transparent cathode and anode for application in transparent organic light-emitting diodes. RSC Advances. 2016; 6(90): 86770–86781. doi: 10.1039/c6ra14124b

[7] Dimitrov D, Tsai CL, Petrov S, et al. Atomic Layer-Deposited Al-Doped ZnO Thin Films for Display Applications. Coatings. 2020; 10(6): 539. doi: 10.3390/coatings10060539

[8] Badgujar AC, Dusane RO, Dhage SR. Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells produced by atmospheric selenization of spray casted nanocrystalline layers. Solar Energy. 2020; 209: 1–10. doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.08.080

[9] Hjiri M, El Mir L, Leonardi SG, et al. Al-doped ZnO for highly sensitive CO gas sensors. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 2014; 196: 413–420. doi: 10.1016/j.snb.2014.01.068

[10] Yadav BS, Dey SR, Dhage SR. Effective ink-jet printing of aqueous ink for Cu (In, Ga) Se2 thin film absorber for solar cell application. Solar Energy. 2019; 179: 363–370. doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2019.01.003

[11] Samoei VK, Jayatissa AH. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO)-based pressure sensor. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical. 2020; 303: 111816. doi: 10.1016/j.sna.2019.111816

[12] Park KC, Ma DY, Kim KH. The physical properties of Al-doped zinc oxide films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. Thin Solid Films. 1997; 305: 201–209. doi: 10.1016/S0040-6090(97)00215-0

[13] Sahu DR, Lin SY, Huang JL. Improved properties of Al-doped ZnO film by electron beam evaporation technique. Microelectronics Journal. 2007; 38(2): 245–250. doi: 10.1016/j.mejo.2006.11.005

[14] Venkatachalam S, Iida Y, Kanno Y. Preparation and characterization of Al doped ZnO thin films by PLD. Superlattices and Microstructures. 2008; 44(1): 127–135. doi: 10.1016/j.spmi.2008.03.006

[15] Fragalà ME, Malandrino G, Giangregorio MM, et al. Structural, Optical, and Electrical Characterization of ZnO and Al‐doped ZnO Thin Films Deposited by MOCVD. Chemical Vapor Deposition. 2009; 15(10–12): 327–333. doi: 10.1002/cvde.200906790

[16] Romero R, Leinen D, Dalchiele EA, et al. The effects of zinc acetate and zinc chloride precursors on the preferred crystalline orientation of ZnO and Al-doped ZnO thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis. Thin Solid Films. 2006; 515(4): 1942–1949. doi: 10.1016/j.tsf.2006.07.152

[17] Islam MR, Rahman M, Farhad SFU, et al. Structural, optical and photocatalysis properties of sol–gel deposited Al-doped ZnO thin films. Surfaces and Interfaces. 2019; 16: 120–126. doi: 10.1016/j.surfin.2019.05.007

[18] Badgujar AC, Yadav BS, Jha GK, et al. Room Temperature Sputtered Aluminum-Doped ZnO Thin Film Transparent Electrode for Application in Solar Cells and for Low-Band-Gap Optoelectronic Devices. ACS Omega. 2022; 7(16): 14203–14210. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c00830

[19] Ilican S, Caglar M, Caglar Y. Determination of the thickness and optical constants of transparent indium-doped ZnO thin films by the envelope method. Materials Science-Poland. 2007; 25(3): 709-718.

[20] Wu HW, Chu CH, Chen YF, et al. Study of AZO Thin Films Under Different Ar Flowand Sputtering Power by RF Sputtering. In: Proceedig of the International Multiconference of Engineers and Computer Scientists 2013; 13–15 March 2013; Hong Kong.

[21] Born M, Oppenheimer R. Zur Quantentheorie der Molekeln. Annalen der Physik. 1927; 389(20): 457–484. doi: 10.1002/andp.19273892002

[22] Hohenberg P, Kohn W. Inhomogeneous Electron Gas. Physical Review. 1964; 136(3B): B864–B871. doi: 10.1103/physrev.136.b864

[23] Kohn W, Sham LJ. Vibrational frequency prediction using density functional theory Physical Review. 140(1965) 1133.

[24] Kohn W, Sham LJ. Self-Consistent Equations Including Exchange and Correlation Effects. Physical Review. 1965; 140(4A): A1133–A1138. doi: 10.1103/physrev.140.a1133

[25] Blaha P, Schwarz K, Sorantin P, Trickey SB. Full-potential, linearized augmented plane wave programs for crystalline systems. Computer Physics Communications. 1990; 59(2): 399–415. doi: 10.1016/0010-4655(90)90187-6

[26] Blaha P, Schwarz K, Madsen G, et al. WIEN2k: An APW+lo program for calculating the properties of solids. The Journal of Chemical Physics. 2020; 7(152): 074101. doi: 10.1063/1.5143061

Published

2024-05-16

How to Cite

Ghorannevis, Z., Jamalpourkolour, M., Boochani, A., Yari, A., Vahabzadeh, N., & Goudarzi, P. (2024). AlZnO magnetron sputtered thin film for photovoltaic application. Energy Storage and Conversion, 2(2), 1151. https://doi.org/10.59400/esc.v2i2.1151

Download Citation

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2024)

Section

Article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Editor-in-Chief

Prof. Xiaohu Yang

Xi'an Jiaotong University, China

eISSN

3029-2778

Publication Frequency

Quarterly

About the Publisher

Academic Publishing insists on taking academic exchange and publication as the main line, carrying out comprehensive management based on science and technology, and fully exploring excellent international publishing resources. Within 5 years, it will form a strategic framework and scale with science (S), technology (T), medicine (M), education (E), and humanities and arts (H) as the main publishing fields. Academic Publishing is headquartered in Singapore and based in Malaysia, with the United States and China providing the main scientific and academic resources. At the same time, it has established long-term good cooperative relations with other publishing companies, scientific research communities, and academic organizations in more than a dozen countries and regions. Academic Publishing uses English and Chinese as its main publishing languages, mainly publishing books, journals, and conference papers in print and online. The vast majority of publications follow the international open access policy, providing stable and long-term quality and professional publications. With the joint efforts of the expert team and our professional editorial team, our publications will gradually be indexed by international databases in stages to provide convenient and professional retrieval for various scholars. At the same time, manuscripts we accept will be subject to the peer review principle, and cutting-edge and innovative research articles will be preferentially accepted for peer reference and discussion. All kinds of our publications are welcome for peer to contribute, access, and download.

more

Volume Arrangement

2024

2023

Featured Articles

Nitrided Copper-Iron Composite Oxides Derived from Layered Double Hydroxides for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Methane and Formic Acid

The reduction of carbon dioxide to valuable chemical products is a promising solution to address carbon balance and energy issues. Herein, amorphous nitrided copper-iron oxides are prepared by gas-phase nitriding of Cu Fe-layered double hydroxide precursor s with urea as nitrogen source. Amorphous materials are more likely to generate defect vacancies during the reaction process, and these vacancies can function as active sites for catalytic reactions. Therefore, the obtained materials show high activity for CO 2 electroreduction to methane and formic acid, achieving a total Faraday efficiency of 74.7% at −0.7 V vs RHE and exhibiting a continuous 10 h durability in the H-cell. The uniformly distributed Cu + sites act as active sites by losing electrons to activate CO 2 . During the CO 2 electroreduction , CO 2 is converted to *COOH via proton-electron coupling, *COOH combines directly with a proton in solution to produce the HCOOH product, and the other part of *COOH undergoes a protonated dehydration process to form the *CHO intermediate which dehydrates again to form CH 4 . This study provides a new approach for designing CO 2 electroreduction catalysts.

AlZnO magnetron sputtered thin film for photovoltaic application

Aluminum zinc oxide (AZO) is a nontoxic and a low-cost material that finds application as a transparent conducting electrode in photovoltaic devices. In this study the (direct current) DC magnetron sputtering of AZO films is carried out at different deposition times of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 min’s at room temperature and it’s structural, optical, electrical and morphological properties are studied for its use as a front contact for thin film solar cell application. The structural study suggests that the preferred orientation of grains along (002) plane having hexagonal structure and the optical and the electrical studies suggest that the films show an average transmission of 70% and a resistivity of the order of 10 -4 Ωcm. On the other hand, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images suggest the formation of packed grains having a homogeneous surface. Moreover in order to study the optoelectronic properties of prepared samples, the electronic and optical calculations of the AZO are performed by the first-principles calculations using density functional theory (DFT).

Investigation of self-excited induction generator for supporting domestic loads and its extension to a microgrid

This study provides a technical and financial analysis for the incorporation of a microgrid structure with a wind energy conversion system for producing electricity. This study’s primary aim is to provide solutions for issues that arise when isolated induction generators are employed with microgrids. A closed-loop smart electronic load controller is used to regulate the loads in the system that are supplied by the generation. A switched variable capacitor bank is used to supply reactive power initially during a voltage dip at varying winds and loads to sustain the voltage profile. Additionally, a simple voltage control loop-based controller for the generator side converter maintains the voltage at a steady level. Using HOMER software, an economic study of the suggested wind-based microgrid structure is also presented. A laboratory experimental setup is used to support the MATLAB/Simulink study of the proposed method and its control. The findings back the feasibility of implementing the suggested plan in grid-isolated regions for supplying critical loads.

Research progress on ZnO/MoS2/rGO ternary photocatalysts

Energy shortage and environmental pollution have become one of the important global issues, and semiconductor photocatalytic technology is considered as one of the effective means to solve these problems. As a new and efficient green material, ZnO has attracted wide attention. ZnO is widely used in the field of photocatalysis due to its non-toxicity, low cost, environmental friendliness, adjustable band gap, high electron density, and chemical stability. However, the recombination of photogenerated charge carriers in ZnO hinders its practical application and lowers the utilization efficiency of visible light. On the other hand, molybdenum disulfide/reduced graphene oxide (MoS 2 /rGO), as a binary non-precious metal co-catalyst, has a larger specific surface area, suitable band gap width, and visible light response capability compared to single-phase graphene co-catalyst. Therefore, introducing MoS 2 /rGO co-catalyst into the ZnO system can provide more active sites, reduce the probability of photogenerated charge carrier recombination, and improve the utilization efficiency of visible light. In this review, we summarize the hydrothermal synthesis methods for preparing this highly demanded nanocomposite material, including one-step and stepwise methods. Subsequently, we elaborate on the mechanism of enhancing light absorption and achieving efficient electron-hole separation behavior in the ternary system heterojunction structure during the photocatalytic process. Due to its significant advantages, this ternary system heterojunction structure has been widely applied in the field of photocatalysis, including applications such as pollutant degradation, sterilization, and water splitting.

Wind power forecasting technologies: A review

This study addresses the critical role of wind power forecasting in ensuring stable and reliable power system operations. Wind Power Forecasting is critical for the efficient operation of plant, time scheduling, and it’s balancing of power generation with grid integration systems. Due to its dependency on dynamic climatic conditions and associated factors, accurate wind power forecasting is challenging. The research delves into various aspects, including input data, input selection techniques, data pre-processing, and forecasting methods, with the aim of motivating researchers to design highly efficient online/offline models on weather-based data. The overarching goal is to enhance the reliability and stability of power systems while optimizing energy resource utilization. The analysis reveals that hybrid models offer more accurate results, highlighting their significance in the current era. This study investigates different Wind Power Forecasting (WPF) models from existing literature, focusing on input variables, time horizons, climatic conditions, pre-processing techniques, and sample sizes that affect model accuracy. It covers statistical models like ARMA and ARIMA, along with AI techniques including Deep Learning (DL), Machine Learning (ML), and neural networks, to estimate wind power.