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Deposition and characterization of nanostructured Cu2O thin-film for potential photovoltaic applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2013

Nishant Gupta ,
Rajendra Singh ,
Fan Wu ,
Jagdish Narayan ,
Colin McMillen ,
Githin F. Alapatt ,
Kelvin F. Poole ,
Shiou-Jyh Hwu ,
Dino Sulejmanovic  and
Matthew Young
...Show all authors
Nishant Gupta
Affiliation:
Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Rajendra Singh*
Affiliation:
Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Fan Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7907
Jagdish Narayan
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7907
Colin McMillen
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Githin F. Alapatt
Affiliation:
Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Kelvin F. Poole
Affiliation:
Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Shiou-Jyh Hwu
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Dino Sulejmanovic
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Matthew Young
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401
Glenn Teeter
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401
Harin S. Ullal
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: srajend@clemson.edu
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Abstract

Copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) is a direct band gap semiconductor with p-type conductivity and is a potential candidate for multi-junction solar cells. In this work, incoherent light source based photo-assisted metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was used to deposit high quality Cu2O thin films on n-type <100> silicon and quartz substrates. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that crystalline Cu2O is deposited. UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy results indicated a band gap of 2.44 eV for Cu2O thin films. Transmission electron spectroscopy results show that the Cu2O film grows in the form of three-dimensional islands composed of smaller nanocrystalline grains in the range of 10–20 nm. I–V measurements indicate that the Cu2O/n-Si device fabricated using the MOCVD process has a lower dark current density than other devices reported in the literature.

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Articles
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Journal of Materials Research , Volume 28 , Issue 13: FOCUS ISSUE: Frontiers in Thin-Film Epitaxy and Nanostructured Materials , 14 July 2013 , pp. 1740 - 1746
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

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