[1]Copper oxide based low cost thin film solar cells

Kumar, V. ; Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Nanyang Technol. Univ., Singapore, Singapore ; Masudy-
Panah, S. ; Tan, C.C. ; Wong, T.K.S

Nanoelectronics Conference (INEC), 2013 IEEE 5th International

Date 2-4 Jan. 2013 PP-443-45
Abstract

Copper oxide is one of the earliest semiconductor materials investigated for solar cells in the early 1900's before
silicon cells became widespread. It is environmentally friendly, nontoxic and furthermore copper is an abundant
metal. In spite of having low power conversion efficiencies when compared to theoretical values, there is much scope
to further improve the efficiency. Copper oxide exists in two stable forms namely, CuO and Cu 2O with a direct band
gap in each case. The band gap can be tuned between 1.6 eV (CuO) to 2.3 eV (Cu2O). In the present work,
semiconducting copper oxide have been deposited on glass and (100) silicon substrates by using radio frequency
(RF) sputtering technique with a CuO target in argon ambient. After deposition, thermal annealing treatment was
carried out at different temperatures ranging from 300°C to 550°C in rapid thermal annealing (RTA) system. The
structural properties and composition of the deposited films have been studied by using X-ray diffraction and X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Optical and electrical properties were studied by using UV-Vis
spectrophotometer and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. The band gap of ~1.6 eV was obtained for sputtered
CuO oxide after annealing at 300°C. Hetero-junction solar cells was fabricated using p-type CuO and n-type Si(100)
substrates. The I-V characteristics of hetero-junction solar cell under sunlight of air mass 1.5 and 100
mW/cm2 illumination shows open circuit voltage of ~380 mV and short-circuit current of ~ 1 mA/cm2.

[2]Impact of metal contact on the performance of cupric oxide based thin film
solar cells
Masudy-Panah, S. ; Sch. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Nanyang Technol. Univ., Singapore, Singapore
; Kumar, V. ; Tan, C.C. ; Radhaknshnan, K.

Nanoelectronics Conference (INEC), 2013 IEEE 5th International

Date 2-4 Jan. 2013 PP-378-80
Abstract

n this paper we have studied the effects of the contact material on the photovoltaic characteristics of p-CuO/n-Si solar
cells fabricated by using the RF sputtering method and annealed by rapid thermal process. We have fabricated three
types of solar cells with different front contact. Type (I) is the p-CuO/n-Si solar cells with Cu front contact, Type (II) is
the p-CuO/n-Si solar cells with Al front contact and Type (III) is the p-CuO/n-Si solar cells with Cu followed by Al front
contact. It has been shown that the Cu/Al as a front contact to the p-CuO can improve the performance of p-CuO/n-Si
solar cells. It has been shown that by using the Cu/Al as the front contact the conversion efficiency increases by 70%
compared to the Cu or Al contacts.

[3] Bajopas Volume 2 Number 2 December, 2009 8 Bayero Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 2(2): 8 -
12 Received: April, 2009 Accepted: July, 2009 COPPER (I) OXIDE (Cu2O) BASED SOLAR CELLS - A REVIEW
 Abdu, Y.* and Musa, A.O Department of Physics, Bayero University, Kano * Correspondence author:
yunusa_abdu@yahoo.com

Abstract

Copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) is a potential material for the fabrication of low cost solar cells for terrestrial
application. A detailed survey on the previous work so far carried out on Cu2O based solar cells has been
presented. The aspects discussed include the fabrication of Schottky (metal/semiconductor) barrier
Cu2O solar cells, where different low work function metals are used to form the Schottky barrier solar
cells. The problems associated with the Cu2O Schottky barrier solar cells and efforts made at improving
the performance of these solar cells are highlighted. Discussions on heterojunction solar cells with Cu2O
have also been presented. Various transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) used in forming the
heterojunction cells are mentioned, and successes and failures of using them highlighted. The
technological developments of these cells are still in their infancy and the performance remains very
poor. The root causes of this poor performance are analyzed and possible areas for future research in
the field are outlined. Keyword: Copper (I) oxide, Solar cells, Solar cells, Schottky barrier sola cells

Journal of Materials Science Research Vol. 1, No. 1; January 2012 138-143 Fabrication and
Characterization of CuO-based Solar Cells

Abstract

Cuprous oxide (CuO)-based solar cells with fullerene (C60) were fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) by a
spin-coating method. The microstructure and cell performance of the solar cells with the CuO/C60
structure was investigated. A photovoltaic device based on an ITO/CuO/C60 hererojunction structure
fabricated by the spin-coating method provided short-circuit current density of 0.18 mAcm-2 and open
circuit voltage of 0.04 V under illumination. The crystal structure of the CuO active layer was examined
by using X-ray diffraction. The energy levels of the present solar cells are also discussed.

[4] Thin Solid Films

Volume 572, 1 December 2014, Pages 126–133

The 41st International Conference on Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films

Copper oxide based nanostructures for improved solar cell efficiency

 A. Bhaumika, A. Haquea, P. Karnatia, M.F.N. Taufiquea, R. Patelb,K. Ghosha,
 Abstract
Resurgence of copper oxide based thin film solar cells demands exclusive methods of integrating various
layers with superior constituents for increased solar-electric conversion efficiency. Exceedingly optically active
nanostructured phase mixture of copper oxides was synthesized by an energy efficient hydrothermal process.
Comprehensive structural and optical studies of these nanostructured copper oxides reveal its efficacy as a
unique solar cell material. Excellent solar cell characteristics have been observed when these nanopowders
are integrated with ZnO/CuO based thin films. X-ray diffraction, Raman micro-scattering, scanning electron
microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and
optoelectronic measurements were employed to characterize these unified electronic devices. Solar cell
measurements indicate a considerable increase in short circuit current density (Jsc) and open circuit voltage
(Voc) in the fabricated nanostructure powder-thin film hybrid solar cell devices. The solar cell efficiency of these
nanopowder-thin film devices is found to be 2.88%. The physics behind this enrichment of solar cell properties
has also been elucidated in the study. Exhaustive Raman spectroscopic and photoluminescence studies prove
that multi-phonon scattering may play a major role for this enhancement. This integration of nanostructures with
thin film solar cells can evolve to a new direction in photovoltaic technology.