Transparent conductive oxides of tin, indium, and cadmium for solar cell applications

This paper presents the investigation results for the technology to obtain the films of SnO2, ITO, and CdO by magnetron sputtering in the pure argon and oxygen-argon mixture, as well as the physical characteristics of the films. For the deposition we have used the substrates made from the quartz glass, sital and silicon. Pure metallic tin, indium and cadmium were used as targets together with the synthesized powder oxides. The authors determined the optimal technological regimes allowing to obtain reproducible high-quality thin films of tin, indium and cadmium oxides with the following electrical and optical parameters: SnO2 - specific resistivity ρ = 1.5 - 6.0•10-4 Ω•cm, optical transmission T = 90 - 95% in transparency region; ITO - ρ = 4.0 - 6.0•10-4 Ω•cm, T = 90 - 95%; CdO - ρ = 2.0 - 3.0•10-4 Ω•cm, T = 80 - 90%.

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