Photovoltaic properties of the p-CuO/n-Si heterojunction prepared through reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Films of p-CuO were deposited on glass and n-Si substrates through reactive magnetron sputtering. The influence of flow rate ratio of O2 to Ar on the structural and electrical properties of the CuO films was studied. By increasing the flow rate ratio, the hole concentration of the CuO films decreased while the mobility and resistivity increase. At a flow rate ratio of 0.5, the average crystal size, hole concentration, mobility, resistivity, and optical bandgap of the deposited p-CuO films are ∼8 nm, 2.76×1015 cm−3, 0.134 cm2/Vs, 0.217 Ωcm, and 1.07 eV, respectively. A p-CuO film/n-Si substrate heterojunction cell has been fabricated and has an open-circuit voltage of 0.33 V and short-circuit current density of 6.27 mA/cm2 under AM 1.5D illumination. The fill factor and energy conversion efficiency are 0.2 and 0.41%, respectively.