Abstract
The n-ZnO/p-GaAs heterojunction is a promising structure to reach good conversion efficiency owing to the important optical and electrical properties of both zinc oxide (ZnO) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductors. In this work, the n-ZnO/p-GaAs heterojunction solar cell was studied to estimate the best photovoltaic parameters of the structure. For that, the effects of thickness and charge carrier concentration of both n-ZnO and p-GaAs absorber on the photovoltaic performance were investigated under standard illumination conditions (AM1.5, 100 mW/cm2). A two-dimensional numerical simulation was carried out using Atlas Silvaco software. An optimal p-GaAs thickness of 100 µm was found, from which no significant change in the conversion efficiency was noted. A high sensitivity of the conversion efficiency by varying the ZnO donor concentration was observed, while the presence of an optimal GaAs acceptor density was revealed. Additionally, an optimal ZnO thickness of 200 nm was shown. The n-ZnO/p-GaAs cell showed a predicted best conversion efficiency of 21.21%. Furthermore, it was revealed that reducing the thickness of the GaAs absorber layer to 2 µm allowed for a significant conversion efficiency of 16.19%, with an optimal GaAs acceptor concentration of 4 × 1018 cm− 3.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
F. Huang, B. Guo, S. Li, J. Fu, L. Zhang, G. Lin, Q. Yang, and Q. Cheng, J. Mater. Sci. 54, 4011 (2019).
F. Lai, M. Hsieh, J. Yang, Y. Hsu, and S. Kuo, Int. J. Energy Res. 45, 1142 (2021).
A. Bouarissa, A. Gueddim, N. Bouarissa, and H. Maghraoui-Meherezi, Mater. Sci. Eng. B 263, 114816 (2021).
J. Luo, Y. Wang, and Q. Zhang, Sol. Energy 163, 289 (2018).
H.J. Lee, J.W. Lee, H.J. Kim, D.-H. Jung, K.-S. Lee, S.H. Kim, D. Geum, C.Z. Kim, W.J. Choi, and J.M. Baik, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 2906 (2016).
M. Manoua, N. Fazouan, A. Almaggoussi, N. Kamoun, and A. Liba, JOM 73, 2819 (2021).
A. Mang, K. Reimann, and S. Rübenacke, Solid State Commun. 94, 251 (1995).
K. Mahmood, and B.M. Samaa, J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 126, 766 (2018).
S. Kyu, J. Korean Sol. Energy Soc. 39, 33 (2019).
S. Yiğit Gezgin, A. Kepceoğlu, A. Toprak, and H. Şükür Kılıç, Mater. Today Proc. 18, 1996 (2019).
R. Pietruszka, B.S. Witkowski, E. Zielony, K. Gwozdz, E. Placzek-Popko, and M. Godlewski, Sol. Energy 155, 1282 (2017).
G. Zheng, J. Song, J. Zhang, J. Li, B. Han, F. Xudong Meng, Y.Z. Yang, and Y. Wang, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 112, 105016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2020.105016 (2020).
M. Ajili, M. Castagné, and N.K. Turki, Superlattices Microstruct. 53, 213 (2013).
M. Manoua, T. Jannane, N. Fazouan, M. Mabrouki, A. Almaggoussi, N.T. Kamoun, and A. Liba, J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Electron. 31, 20485 (2020).
B. Hussain, A. Ebong, and I. Ferguson, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 139, 95 (2015).
R. Pietruszka, R. Schifano, T.A. Krajewski, B.S. Witkowski, K. Kopalko, L. Wachnicki, E. Zielony, K. Gwozdz, P. Bieganski, E. Placzek-Popko, and M. Godlewski, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 147, 164 (2016).
M. Manoua, T. Jannane, O. Abouelala, N. Fazouan, A. Almaggoussi, N.T. Kamoun, and A. Liba, Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 90, 10101 (2020).
S. Chala, R. Boumaraf, A.F. Bouhdjar, M. Bdirina, M. Labed, T.E. Taouririt, M. Elbar, N. Sengouga, F. Yakuphanoğlu, S. Rahmane, Y. Naoui, and Y. Benbouzid, J. Nano- Electron. Phys. 13, 01009 (2021).
S. Boudour, I. Bouchama, N. Bouarissa, and M. Hadjab, J. Sci. Adv. Mater. Devices 4, 111 (2019).
P. Caban, R. Pietruszka, K. Kopalko, B.S. Witkowski, K. Gwozdz, E. Placzek-Popko, and M. Godlewski, Optik 157, 743 (2018).
L. Derbali, Materials 15, 6268 (2022).
A. Goetzberger, and C. Hebling, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 62, 1 (2000).
T. Huo, H. Yin, D. Zhou, L. Sun, T. Tian, H. Wei, N. Hu, Z. Yang, Y. Zhang, Y. Su, and A.C.S. Sustain, Chem. Eng. 8, 15532 (2020).
V.O. Gridchin, K.P. Kotlyar, A.V. Vershinin, N.V. Kryzhanovskaya, E.V. Pirogov, A.A. Semenov, P.Y. Belyavskiy, A.V. Nashchekin, G.E. Cirlin, and I.P. Soshnikov, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1410, 012054 (2019).
Y.F. Makableh, R. Vasan, J.C. Sarker, A.I. Nusir, S. Seal, and M.O. Manasreh, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 123, 178 (2014).
X. Jin, and N. Tang, Mater. Res. Express 8, 016412 (2021).
D.P. Pham, et al., Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 121, 105344 (2021).
M. Manoua, T. Jannane, O. Abouelala, M. Sajieddine, M. Mabrouki, A. Almaggoussi and A. Liba. Optimization of ZnO thickness for high efficiency of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction solar cells by 2D numerical simulation, in Proceeding of the 2020 IEEE 6th International Conference on Optimization and Applications (ICOA) Beni Mellal, Morocco. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICOA49421.2020.9094491.
Y.-C. Kao, H.-M. Chou, S.-C. Hsu, A. Lin, C.-C. Lin, Z.-H. Shih, C.-L. Chang, H.-F. Hong, and R.-H. Horng, Sci. Rep. 9, 4308 (2019).
Atlas User’s Manual: Device Simulation from Silvaco International, Version 1.8.20
F. Azri, M. Labed, A.F. Meftah, N. Sengouga, and A.M. Meftah, Opt. Quantum Electron. 48, 1 (2016).
D. Diouf, J.-P. Kleider, and C. Longeaud, Two-Dimensional Simulations of Interdigitated Back Contact Silicon Heterojunctions Solar, in Physics and Technology of Amorphous-Crystalline Heterostructure Silicon Solar Cells. (Springer, Berlin, 2012), pp. 483–519.
J. Dziewior, and W. Schmid, Appl. Phys. Lett. 31, 346 (1977).
S.S.A. Askari, M. Kumar, and M.K. Das, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 33, 115003 (2018).
M. Manoua, A. Bouajaj, A. Almaggoussi, N.T. Kamoun, and A. Liba, J. Nanophotonics 16, 026008 (2022).
M. Belarbi, M. Beghdad, and A. Mekemeche, Sol. Energy 127, 206 (2016).
M.A. Green, Solid-State Electron. 24, 788 (1981).
W. Zhang, and N. Tang, Mater. Res. Express 7, 105903 (2020).
R. Zhou, W. Zhang, and N. Tang, Opt. Mater. 127, 112095 (2022).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Manoua, M., Jannane, T., El-Hami, K. et al. Investigation of n-ZnO/p-GaAs Heterojunction Solar Cell Using Two-Dimensional Numerical Simulation. JOM 75, 3601–3611 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05963-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05963-8