The role of the interfacial layer in Schottky barrier solar cells

The interfacial layer in a Schottky barrier solar cell plays an important role in reducing the dark current, which in turn improves the open-circuit voltage and the efficiency of the solar cell. From the transmission of electrons and holes across the interfacial layer the authors have analysed the current mechanism in a Schottky barrier solar cell under two approximations. It is shown that the efficiency of the cell increases at first with the interfacial layer thickness delta , and after acquiring a maximum value falls with a further increase of delta . The variation with delta of Isc, the short-circuit current, Voc the open-circuit voltage and FF the fill factor are also discussed.