Sputtered Al-doped ZnO transparent conducting thin films suitable for silicon solar cells

Abstract Highly transparent conducting Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films have been grown onto p-type porous silicon substrates by RF-magnetron sputtering at room temperature using aluminum doped nanocrystalline powder. The obtained AZO films were polycrystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and preferentially oriented in the (002) crystallographic direction. The films are highly transparent in the visible wavelength region with a transmittance higher than 85% and an electrical resistivity of 1.56 × 10 − 4 Ω·cm was obtained at room temperature. On the other hand, we have studied the position of the p–n junction involved in the In 2 O 3 :SnO 2 /(n)AZO/Si(p) structure, by electron-beam induced current technique. Current density–voltage characterizations in dark and under illumination were also investigated. The cell exhibits an efficiency of 5%.