Some Physical Properties of CdO Thin Films Used as Window Material in Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Abstract CdO thin films which can be used in photovoltaic solar cells as window material were obtained on glass substrates at 250°C and 300°C substrate temperatures using Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis (USP) technique. The electrical, optical, structural, and surface properties of the films were investigated for two different substrate temperatures. After all investigations, it is concluded that, the CdO thin films can be used in photovoltaic solar cells as window materials and cell efficiencies can be increased using different growth parameters. #Contributed by the Organizing Committee for the First International Exergy, Energy and Environment Symposium (IEEES-1). Article presented at IEEES-1, Izmir, Turkey, 13–17 July 2003. Manuscript received by IJGE on 2003-12-01; final revision received on 2004-03-12. Corresponding guest editors: I. Dincer and A. Hepbasli.

[1]  A. Bouzidi,et al.  Investigations on ZnxCd1−xO thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis , 2002 .

[2]  S. Jiménez-Sandoval,et al.  High transmittance CdO thin films obtained by the sol-gel method , 2000 .

[3]  C. Purushothaman,et al.  Effect of annealing temperatures on the electrical transport properties of spray-pyrolysed CdS films , 1990 .

[4]  G. Santana,et al.  Optoelectronic properties of CdO-Si heterojunctions , 1999 .

[5]  Thomas Höche,et al.  Transparent semiconducting ZnO:Al thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis , 1999 .

[6]  Arturo Morales-Acevedo,et al.  Spray pyrolysis deposition of cadmium–zinc oxide thin films , 2000 .

[7]  S. Ray,et al.  Deposition and characterization of ZnxCd1−xS thin films prepared by the dip technique , 1998 .

[8]  R. Ferro Some physical properties of F-doped CdO thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis , 1999 .

[9]  Y. Hatanaka,et al.  Composition studies on CdO thin films formed by spray pyrolysis and sputtering , 1997 .

[10]  S. A. Mahmoud,et al.  Structural and DC electrical investigations of ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique , 2001 .

[11]  Z. Kebbab,et al.  A chemical method for the preparation of thin films of CdO and ZnO , 1997 .

[12]  H. Hosono,et al.  Band-gap widening of CdO thin films , 1998 .

[13]  S. Kose,et al.  CdS:Ni films obtained by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis: effect of the Ni concentration , 2003 .

[14]  K. Kasem Photo-electrochemistry at polymer/semiconductor interface Characterization of surface modified CdS based photovoltaic cells , 1999 .

[15]  G. Gordillo,et al.  pH Effect on the Deposition of CdS on ZnO and SnO2:F Substrates by CBD Method , 2000 .

[16]  A. Morales-Acevedo,et al.  Structural and optical properties of (ZnO)x(CdO)1-x thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis , 2000 .

[17]  J. Mcclure,et al.  Physical and electrical characterization of CdS films deposited by vacuum evaporation, solution growth and spray pyrolysis , 1997 .

[18]  A. Baranov,et al.  Investigation of the properties of CdO films , 1997 .

[19]  A. Morales-Acevedo,et al.  Chemical composition and electrical conduction mechanism for CdO:F thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis , 2001 .

[20]  J. Akintunde Effects of Deposition Parameters and Conditions on the Physical and Electro-Optical Properties of Buffer Solution Grown CdS Thin Films , 2000 .

[21]  M. Uplane,et al.  Effect of deposition temperature on spray deposited cadmium oxide films , 2001 .

[22]  E. Fortunato,et al.  Influence of the post-treatment on the properties of ZnO thin films , 2001 .