Applications of Oxide Coatings in Photovoltaic Devices
Source abstract
Abstract
Metalloid and metal based oxides are an almost unavoidable component in the majority of solar cell technologies used at the time of writing this review. Numerous studies have shown increases of ≥1% absolute in solar cell efficiency by simply substituting a given layer in the material stack with an oxide. Depending on the stoichiometry and whether other elements are present, oxides can be used for the purpose of light management, passivation of electrical defects, photo-carrier generation, charge separation, and charge transport in a solar cell. In this review, the most commonly used oxides whose benefits for solar cells have been proven both in a laboratory and industrial environment are discussed. Additionally, developing trends in the use of oxides, as well as newer oxide materials, and deposition technologies for solar cells are reported.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films · Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties · ZnO doping and properties
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
PVcomB, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meintner Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
References (100+)
Show source-provided references
1. Why are some oxides metallic, while most are insulating?10.1016/0921-4534(91)90534-6 ↗
2. Transparent conductors—A status review10.1016/0040-6090(83)90256-0 ↗
3. A comprehensive review of one-dimensional metal-oxide nanostructure photodetectors10.3390/s90806504 ↗
4. High dielectric constant gate oxides for metal oxide Si transistors10.1088/0034-4885/69/2/R02 ↗
5. Ion and mixed conducting oxides as catalysts10.1016/0920-5861(92)80046-P ↗
6. Electronic structure of early 3d-transition-metal oxides by analysis of the 2p core-level photoemission spectra10.1103/PhysRevB.53.1161 ↗
7. World Record Solar Cell with 44.7% Efficiency. Available online:http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-and-media/press-releases/presseinformationen-2013/world-record-solar-cell-with-44.7-efficiency.
8. A laboratory technique for the evaluation of electrochemical transparent conductive oxide delamination from glass substrates10.1016/S0040-6090(02)01020-9 ↗
9. Cardelli, F. (2008). Materials Handbook: A Consise Desktop Reference, Springer-Verlag. [2nd ed.].
10. Prediction of the chemical trends of oxygen vacancy levels in binary metal oxides10.1063/1.3647756 ↗
11. The thermodynamic properties of the oxides and their vaporisation processes10.1021/cr60161a001 ↗
12. Electronic and optical properties of anatase TiO210.1103/PhysRevB.61.7459 ↗
13. Chemical vapour deposition of coatings on glass10.1016/S0022-3093(97)00198-1 ↗
14. Properties of TiO-based transparent conducting oxides10.1002/pssa.200983774 ↗
15. Das, C., Lambertz, A., Huepkes, J., Reetz, W., and Finger, F. (2008). A constructive combination of antireflection and intermediate-reflector layers for a-Si/µc-Si thin film solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett., 92.10.1063/1.2841824 ↗
16. Fabrication of thin film dye sensitized solar cells with solar to electric power conversion efficiency over 10%10.1016/j.tsf.2007.05.090 ↗
17. Metal oxides for interface engineering in polymer solar cells10.1039/c2jm33838f ↗
18. Park, S.I., Baik, S.J., Im, J.S., Fang, L., Jeon, J.W., and Lima, K.S. (2011). Towards a high efficiency amorphous silicon solar cell using molybdenum oxide as a window layer instead of conventional p-type amorphous silicon carbide. Appl. Phys. Lett., 99.10.1063/1.3624591 ↗
19. High dielectric constant oxides10.1051/epjap:2004206 ↗
20. Tungsten oxide as a buffer layer inserted at the SnO2/p-a-SiC interface of pin-type amorphous silicon based solar cells10.1063/1.3427396 ↗
21. Binary copper oxide semiconductors: From materials towards devices10.1002/pssb.201248128 ↗
22. Review of preparation and optoelectronic characteristics of Cu2O-based solar cells with nanostructure10.1016/j.mssp.2012.12.028 ↗
23. Minami, T., Miyata, T., and Nishi, Y. (2013). Efficiency improvement of Cu2O-based heterojunction solar cells fabricated using thermally oxidized copper sheets. Thin Solid Films, in press.10.1016/j.tsf.2013.11.026 ↗
24. Chemical and thin film strategies for new transparent conducting oxides10.1557/mrs2000.150 ↗
25. P-type electrical conduction in transparent thin films of CuAlO210.1038/40087 ↗
26. Transparent p-type conducting oxides: Design and fabrication of p-n heterojunctions10.1557/mrs2000.148 ↗
27. Ögzur, Ü., Alivov, Y.I., Liu, C., Teke, A., Reshchikov, M., Dogan, S., Avrutin, V., Cho, S.J., and Morkoç, H. (2005). A comprehensive review of ZnO materials and devices. J. Appl. Phys., 98.10.1063/1.1992666 ↗
28. Hydrogen as a cause of doping in zinc oxide10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1012 ↗
29. Impact of front and rear texture of thin film micro-crystalline silicon solar cells on their ligh trapping properties10.1063/1.3467968 ↗
30. Rough ZnO layers by LP-CVD process and their effect in improving performance of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon solar cells10.1016/j.solmat.2006.06.003 ↗
31. Phase stability, electronic structure and optical properties of indium oxide polytypes10.1103/PhysRevB.76.075129 ↗
32. Influence of shallow core-level hybridization on the electronic structure of post-transition-metal oxides studied using soft X-ray emission and absorption10.1103/PhysRevB.68.165104 ↗
33. Carrier density dependence of optical band gap and work function in Sn-doped In2O3 films10.1143/APEX.3.061101 ↗
34. Xray photoemission spectroscopy studies of Sn-doped indium oxide films10.1063/1.324149 ↗
35. Deep-ultra-violet transparent conductive beta-Ga2O3 films10.1063/1.1330559 ↗
36. The surface and materials science of tin oxide10.1016/j.progsurf.2005.09.002 ↗
37. Ab-initio study of fluorine-doped tin dioxide: A prospective catalyst support for water electrolysis10.1016/j.physb.2010.11.015 ↗
38. Band-gap widewide of CdO thin films10.1063/1.368933 ↗
39. High mobility transparent conducting oxides for thin film solar cells10.1016/j.tsf.2009.09.044 ↗
40. Thermally deposited lead oxides for thin film photovoltaics10.1016/j.matlet.2011.12.027 ↗
41. Plasma deposition of optical films and coatings: A review10.1116/1.1314395 ↗
42. Magnetron sputtering: A review of recent developments and applications10.1016/S0042-207X(99)00189-X ↗
43. Very low surface recombination velocities on p-type silicon wafers passivated with a dielectric with fixed negative charge10.1016/j.solmat.2006.04.014 ↗
44. Hoex, B., Gielis, J.J.H., van de Sanden, M.C.M., and Kessels, W.M.M. (2008). On the c-Si surface passivation mechanism by the negative-charge dielectric Al2O3. J. Appl. Phys., 104.10.1063/1.3021091 ↗
45. Comparison of properties of dielectric films deposited by various methods10.1116/1.569413 ↗
46. Texture morphology of SnO2:F films and cell reflectance10.1143/JJAP.27.2053 ↗
47. The variation of physical properties of plasma-deposited silicon nitride and oxynitride with their compositions10.1149/1.2115255 ↗
48. Subsolidus phase relations and transparent conductors in the cadmium-indium-tin oxide system10.1111/j.1151-2916.2002.tb00458.x ↗
49. Comparison of thin film and bulk forms of the transparent oxide solution Cd1+xIn2–2xSnxO410.1063/1.1410882 ↗
50. Multi-component Transparent Conducting Oxides: Progress in Materials Modelling10.1088/0953-8984/23/33/334210 ↗
51. Tunable photovoltaic effect and solar cell performance of self-doped perovskite SrTiO310.1063/1.4766279 ↗
52. Oxide heterostructures for efficent solar cells10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.078701 ↗
53. Perovskite oxides for visible-light-absorbing ferroelectric and photovoltaic materials10.1038/nature12622 ↗
54. Room temperature fabrication of transparent flexible thin film transistors using amorphous oxide semiconductors10.1038/nature03090 ↗
55. Photovoltaic properties of n-type amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O and p-type single crystal Si heterojunction solar cells: Effects of Ga content10.1016/j.tsf.2011.10.066 ↗
56. Ionic amorphous oxide semiconductors: Material design, carrier transport and device application10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2006.01.073 ↗
57. Jones, A.C., Aspinall, H.C., and Chalker, P.R. (2009). Chemical Vapour Deposition: Precursors, The Royal Society of Chemistry.
58. Fundamental understanding and modeling of reactive sputtering processes10.1016/j.tsf.2004.10.051 ↗
59. Solution processing of transparent conductors: From flask to film10.1039/c1cs15065k ↗
60. Recent progress in the synthesis of oxide films from liquid solutions10.2109/jcersj2.117.228 ↗
61. Electrochemical synthesis of metal oxides and hydroxides10.1021/cm990447a ↗
62. Ritala, M., and Niinisto, J. (2009). Chemical Vapour Deposition: Precursors, The Royal Society of Chemistry.
63. A 15% efficient antireflection-coated metal-oxide-semiconductor solar cell10.1063/1.88375 ↗
64. High-efficiency silicon solar cells10.1109/T-ED.1984.21589 ↗
65. Surface passivation of c-Si solar Cells: A review10.1002/1099-159X(200009/10)8:5<473::AID-PIP337>3.0.CO;2-D ↗
66. Zielke, D., Petermann, J., Werner, F., Veith, B., Brendel, R., and Schmidt, J. (2011, January 5–6). 21.7% Efficient PERC Solar Cells with AlOx Tunneling Layer. Proceedings of 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Hamburg, Germany.
67. Silicon nitride processing for control of optical and electronic properties of silicon solar cells10.1007/s11664-003-0086-2 ↗
68. Influence of the front surface passivation quality on large area n-type silicon solar cells with Al alloyed rear emitter10.1016/j.egypro.2011.06.170 ↗
69. Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon10.1149/1.2428650 ↗
70. Ueranantasun, A., Richards, B., Honsberg, C., and Cotter, J.E. (2003, January 11–18). Titanium dioxide film as a phosphorus diffusion barrier in silicon solar cells. Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003, Osaka, Japan.
71. Development of new a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells: ACJ-HIT (Artificially Constructed Junction-Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-Layer)10.1143/JJAP.31.3518 ↗
72. 24.7% Record efficiency HIT solar cell on thin silicon wafer10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2282737 ↗
73. Banerjee, C., Sritharathikhun, J., Yamada, A., and Konagai, M. (2008). Fabrication of heterojunction solar cells by using microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon oxide film as an emitter. J. Phys. D Appl. Phys., 41.10.1088/0022-3727/41/18/185107 ↗
74. Ding, K., Aeberhard, U., Smirnov, V., Hollaender, B., Finger, F., and Rau, U. (2013). Wide Gap Microcrystalline Silicon Oxide Emitter for a-SiOx:H/c-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 52.10.7567/JJAP.52.122304 ↗
75. Heterojunction silicon wafer solar cells using amorphous silicon suboxides for interface passivation10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.012 ↗
76. Hekmatshoar, B., Shahrjerdi, D., Hopstaken, M., Fogel, K., and Sadana, D.K. (2012). High-efficiency heterojunction solar cells on crystalline germanium substrates. Appl. Phys. Lett., 101.10.1063/1.4737166 ↗
77. Microstructure and photovoltaic performance of polycrystalline silicon thin films on temperature stable ZnO:Al layers10.1063/1.3240343 ↗
78. Electron-beam crystallized large grained silicon solar cell on glass substrate10.1002/pip.1098 ↗
79. Elucidation of the layer exchange mechanism in the formation of polycrystalline silicon by aluminum-induced crystallization10.1063/1.373632 ↗
80. Thin-film polycrystalline silicon solar cells formed by diode laser crystallisation10.1002/pip.2282 ↗
81. New world record efficiency for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells beyond 20%10.1002/pip.1078 ↗
82. Solar cell efficiency tables (version 42)10.1002/pip.2404 ↗
83. Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with controlled conduction band offset of window/Cu(In,Ga)Se210.1063/1.1366655 ↗
84. Glatzel, T., Steigert, H., Klenk, R., Lux-Steiner, M., Niesen, T., and Visbeck, S. (2004, January 26–30). Zn1−xMgxO as a window layer in completely Cd-free Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 based thin film Solar cells. Proceedings of Technical Digest of the 14th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC-14), Bangkok, Thailand.
85. Zn(O,S) buffer layers by atomic layer deposition in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based thin film solar cells: Band alignment and sulfur gradient
86. An 11.4% efficient polycrystalline thin film solar cell based on CuInS2 with a Cd-free buffer layer10.1016/0927-0248(95)00069-0 ↗
87. ZnO nanorod arrays as an antireflective coating for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells10.1002/pip.946 ↗
88. Atomic layer deposition of Zn1−xMgxO buffer layers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells10.1002/pip.733 ↗
89. Technological aspects of flexible CIGS solar cells and modules10.1016/j.solener.2004.04.010 ↗
90. Spray pyrolysis of barrier layers for flexible thin film solar cells on steel10.1016/j.solmat.2010.09.010 ↗
91. Encapsulation of Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells with Al2O3 thin film moisture barrier grown by atomic layer deposition10.1016/j.solmat.2010.08.021 ↗
92. Efficiency enhancement of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells fabricated on flexible polymide substrates using alkali-silicate glass thin layers10.1143/APEX.1.092303 ↗
93. CdTe solar cells at the threshold to 20% efficiency10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2278661 ↗
94. Wu, X., Keane, J., Dhere, R., DeHart, C., Duda, A., Gessert, T., Asher, S., Levi, D., and Sheldon, P. (2001, January 22–26). 16.5%-Efficient CdS/CdTe Polycrystalline Thin Film Solar Cell. Proceedings of 17th European Photovoltaics Solar Energy Conference, Munich, Germany.
95. CdTe thin film solar cells: device and technology issues10.1016/j.solener.2004.05.023 ↗
96. Beyond 11% Efficiency: Characteristics of State-of-the-Art Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Solar Cells10.1002/aenm.201200348 ↗
97. Development of highly effcient thin film silicon solar cells on texture-etched zinc oxide-coated glass substrates10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00184-7 ↗
98. Improvement in the efficiency of amorphous silicon solar cells utilising the optical confinement effect by means of a TiO2/Ag/SUS back surface reflector10.1016/0379-6787(84)90099-1 ↗
99. Study of back reflectors for amorphous silicon alloy solar cell application10.1063/1.347418 ↗
100. Kluth, O., Losio, P., Bakehe, S., Caglar, O., Goldbach, H., Keller, M., Benagli, S., and Meier, J. (2009, January 21–25). Up-scaling of high throughput a-Si solar cell design on ZnO to 1.4 M² modules. Proceedings of 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Hamburg, Germany.