Fabrication and Characterization of p-Sb2O3:CuO/n-Si Solar Cell Via Thermal Evaporation Technique
Abstract
Antimonous oxide (Sb2O3) has intriguing physical and chemical features that make it useful in various device applications, including solar cells. Pure and CuO-doped Sb2O3 nanofilms were prepared on glass and silicon substrates etched by laser using a thermal evaporation process in a vacuum, with doping ratios (0.02 wt.%, 0.04 wt.% and 0.06 wt.%) of CuO with a thickness of about 40 nm. The deposited nanofilms have no distinguishing peaks in X-ray diffraction analysis. Broadening of X-ray peaks shows the absence of long-range symmetry (either translational, rotational or conformational); as a consequence, the nanocrystalline structure is disorganized (disordered solids are nonamorphous materials that have lost their long-range crystalline structure). Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the surface morphology of the formed nanofilms showed that the particles were all about the same size and spread out uniformly. Atomic force microscopy scanning images showed the nanofilms’ homogeneous surface morphology with granular shape. The optical properties showed a minor increase in absorbance spectra with increasing CuO doping. Contrarily, the optical energy gap (Eoptg) was decreased by quantum confinement from 3.51 eV to 3.31 eV. As can be seen from the I–V characteristics, the solar cell’s conversion efficiency increases to 7.62% at P=100 mW/cm2 with a filling factor (FF) of 0.198, an open-circuit voltage of 12 V, and a short-circuit current of 3.2 mA.
