2010 · 17 citations · 3 references
Natural SciencesMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceElectronic MaterialsEnergy MaterialsSemiconductor MaterialsElectrical ConductivityPhotovoltaic DevicesPhotovoltaic MaterialsSolar Cell MaterialsSolar CellsTransparent Conducting OxidesAluminum-doped Zinc OxideAmorphous Oxide SemiconductorsDamp Heat TestingSolar Cell CharacterizationTransparent Conducting FilmsTransparent Conducting MaterialsTransparent Conductive FilmsTransparent Conductive Oxides
Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) with qualitatively better resistance to humidity than ZnO, the traditional Cu(In,Ga)Se <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> (CIGS) TCO, are needed to reduce the water-induced degradation of CIGS photovoltaics (PV). Amorphous In-Zn-O (a-IZO) is found both to act as a water vapor transport barrier and to be essentially inert in damp heat testing at 85°C, 85%RH (85/85). In particular, no significant reduction in conductivity or transparency was observed after 40 days at 85/85. In initial PV application testing, a-IZO-finished CIGS solar cells have demonstrated 16.4% efficiency, essentially equal to equivalent CIGS cells finished with Al-doped ZnO.
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