Characterization of the ITO/p-Si/Al contacts produced by thermal evaporation

• Published in: Vacuum 2019-10, Vol.168, p.108799, Article 108799
• Main Author: Ozkartal, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Heterojunction; ITO; Rectifier; Solar cell; Thermal evaporation; Thin film
• ISSN: 0042-207X; 1879-2715
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2019.108799

Indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/p-Si heterojunctions were produced by thermal evaporation using a vacuum coating unit. Cleaning process for the p-Si (1 0 0) crystal was carried out according to the conventional procedure. Prior to ITO evaporation, ohmic contact was made on the back side of the p-Si using Al (99.999%) metal. Optical transmission measurements of the ITO film was performed using a UV–Vis spectrophotometer. The fact that the ITO film shows a sharp absorbtion in a certain photon energy range points out it has a semiconductor property. So, optical band-gap of the ITO film was determined as 3.85 eV. The structural properties of the films were examined by x-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Current-voltage (I–V) measurements of the ITO/p-Si heterojuntions were performed under illumination and in dark to reveal photovoltaic and electrical properties of them, respectively. It is discovered from the I–V measurements that the ITO/p-Si heterojuctions have shown rectifier properties and exhibited low photovoltaic characteristic. •ITO/p-Si heterojunction contacts were produced by thermal evaporation method (TEM) in vacuum.•The interface of structures showed good rectifier properties with 1.5 × 104 rectification factor at ±0.8 V.•ITO/p-Si structures showed poor photovoltaic conversion efficiency.•This study updated that TEM in vacuum can be considered as an alternative technique in the production of ITO/p-Si contacts.