Abstract
Fabrication of heterojunctions of Si along with oxide based semiconductors like TiO2 is an alternative method to produce cost effective solar cells. To study the photovoltaic performance of the n-TiO2/p-Si heterostructure, TiO2 thin films of different thicknesses were deposited on p type Si substrates using pulsed laser deposition technique. All the films were characterized using XRD, AFM, Spectroscopic ellipsometry and I–V characteristics with solar simulator and other monochromatic light sources of different wavelengths. Optical properties of the thin films were correlated with the I–V characteristics under dark and illumination conditions. It has been shown that thickness plays a crucial role on the photovoltaic performance of the n-TiO2/p-Si heterostructure. Further, it has been observed that the optical reflectivity of TiO2 thin film of particular optimized thickness deposited on p type Si could be lowest. Consequently, photocurrent of the n-TiO2/p-Si heterostructure is found to decrease with an increment of the thickness of the TiO2 thin film. This is attributed to the increment of series and sheet resistance with increase of TiO2 film thickness. Moreover, increase of TiO2 film thickness can also create surface states and defects in the n-TiO2/p-Si heterojunction which are also responsible for poor efficiency of the photovoltaic cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
L. Li, C.X. Shan, B.H. Li, B. Yao, D.Z. Shen, B. Chu, Y.M. Lu, J. Electron. Mater. 39, 2467 (2010)
S. Avasthi, W.E. McClain, G. Man, A. Kahn, J. Schwartz, J.C. Sturm, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 1 (2013)
N.G. Elfadill, M.R. Hashim, K.M. Chahrour, S.A. Mohammed, J. Electroanal. Chem. 767, 7 (2016)
Z.S. Hosseini, M. Shasti, S. Ramezani Sani, A. Mortezaali, J. Appl. Phys. 119, 14503 (2016)
C. Cao, C. Hu, X. Wang, S. Wang, Y. Tian, H. Zhang, Sens. Actuators B 156, 114 (2011)
S. Aksoy, Y. Caglar, J. Alloy. Compd. 613, 330 (2014)
P. Chinnamuthu, J.C. Dhar, A. Mondal, A. Bhattacharyya, N.K. Singh, J. Phys. D 45, 135102 (2012)
G. Rawat, D. Somvanshi, H. Kumar, Y. Kumar, C. Kumar, S. Jit, IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol. 15, 193 (2016)
S.K. Gautam, A. Das, R.G. Singh, V.V.S. Kumar, F. Singh, J. Appl. Phys. 120, 214502 (2016)
M. Pavan, S. Rühle, A. Ginsburg, D.A. Keller, H.-N. Barad, P.M. Sberna, D. Nunes, R. Martins, A.Y. Anderson, A. Zaban, E. Fortunato, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 132, 549 (2015)
K. Kardarian, D. Nunes, P. Maria Sberna, A. Ginsburg, D.A. Keller, J. Vaz Pinto, J. Deuermeier, A.Y. Anderson, A. Zaban, R. Martins, E. Fortunato, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 147, 27 (2016)
A.R. Zainun, S. Tomoya, U. Mohd Noor, M. Rusop, I. Masaya, Mater. Lett. 66, 254 (2012)
B.S. Richards, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 79, 369 (2003)
K. Ali, S.A. Khan, M.Z.M. Jafri, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 9, 7865 (2014)
B.B. He, Two-dimensional X-ray Diffraction (Wiley, Hoboken, 2009)
G. Kaur, A. Dewasi, A. Mitra, K.L. Yadav, Adv. Sci. Lett. 22, 905 (2016)
R. Dhabbe, A. Kadam, P. Korake, M. Kokate, P. Waghmare, K. Garadkar, J. Mater. Sci. 26, 554 (2015)
G. Kaur, A. Mitra, K.L. Yadav, J. Mater. Sci. 26, 9689 (2015)
M. Kumar, A. Kanjilal, T. Som, AIP Adv. 3, 92126 (2013)
L. Ion, I. Enculescu, S. Iftimie, V. Ghenescu, C. Tazlaoanu, C. Besleaga, T.L. Mitran, V.A. Antohe, M.M. Gugiu, S. Antohe, Chalcogenide Lett. 7, 521 (2010)
S. Antohe, V. Ruxandra, L. Tugulea, V. Gheorghe, D. Ionascu, J. Phys. III 6, 1133 (1996)
S. Antohe, Phys. Status Solidi 136, 401 (1993)
N. Venugopal, G. Kaur, A. Mitra, Appl. Surf. Sci. 320, 30 (2014)
E. Monroy, F. Omnes, F. Calle, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 18, R33 (2003)
G. Kaur, K.L. Yadav, A. Mitra, Appl. Phys. Lett. 107, 53901 (2015)
C. Sima, C. Grigoriu, S. Antohe, Thin Solid Films 519, 595 (2010)
C. Besleaga, L. Ion, V. Ghenescu, G. Socol, A. Radu, I. Arghir, C. Florica, S. Antohe, Thin Solid Films 520, 6803 (2012)
A. Radu, S. Iftimie, V. Ghenescu, C. Besleaga, V.A. Antohe, G. Bratina, L. Ion, S. Craciun, M. Girtan, S. Antohe, Dig. J. Nanomater. Biostruct. 6, 1141 (2011)
S. Iftimie, A. Majkic, C. Besleaga, V.A. Antohe, A. Radu, M. Radu, I. Arghir, C. Florica, L. Ion, G. Bratina, S. Antohe, J. Optoelectron. Adv. Mater. 12, 2170 (2010)
J.-Z. Chen, T.-H. Chen, L.-W. Lai, P.-Y. Li, H.-W. Liu, Y.-Y. Hong, D.-S. Liu, Materials 8, 4273 (2015)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Vamsi K. Komarala from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), India, for providing EQE measurement Facility at IIT Delhi. A. Dewasi would also like to acknowledge IIT Roorkee and Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, for providing research assistantship.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dewasi, A., Mitra, A. Effect of variation of thickness of TiO2 on the photovoltaic performance of n-TiO2/p-Si heterostructure. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 18075–18084 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7751-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-017-7751-3