CuO<i>_x</i>/a‐Si:H heterojunction thin‐film solar cell with an <i>n</i>‐type µc‐Si:H depletion‐assisting layer

Abstract

Abstract We showed that thin n ‐type CuO x films can be deposited by radio‐frequency magnetron reactive sputtering and demonstrated the fabrication of n ‐CuO x /intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon ( i ‐a‐Si:H) heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) for the first time. A highly n ‐doped hydrogenated microcrystalline Si ( n ‐µc‐Si:H) layer was introduced as a depletion‐assisting layer to further improve the performance of n ‐CuO x / i ‐a‐Si:H HSCs. An analysis of the external quantum efficiency and energy‐band diagram showed that the thin depletion‐assisting layer helped establish sufficient depletion and increased the built‐in potential in the n ‐CuO x layer. The fabricated HSC exhibited a high open‐circuit voltage of 0.715 V and an efficiency of 4.79%. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.