Growth and p-type doping of cuprous oxide thin-films for photovoltaic applications

Cuprous oxide is considered a promising earth-abundant semiconductor material for low-cost photovoltaic applications. In this contribution, we report growth of high-quality Cu 2 O crystalline thin-films and p-type doping induced by nitrogen. We present an effective p-type doping method for Cu 2 O th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yun Seog Lee, Winkler, M. T., Sin Cheng Siah, Brandt, R., Buonassisi, T.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorption
copper compounds
Cu 2 O
cuprous oxide
doping
Heating
Nitrogen
Optical films
semiconductor films
semiconductor growth
Substrates
thin films
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Summary:Cuprous oxide is considered a promising earth-abundant semiconductor material for low-cost photovoltaic applications. In this contribution, we report growth of high-quality Cu 2 O crystalline thin-films and p-type doping induced by nitrogen. We present an effective p-type doping method for Cu 2 O thin-films by introducing nitrogen gas as a dopant during a reactive sputtering process. Electrical and optical properties of the resulting films are controlled by varying deposition parameters such as nitrogen partial pressure. We successfully reduce the electrical resistivity of the Cu 2 O thin-films down to 5.1 Ω·cm and increase hole density to 1.8×10 18 cm -3 . Nitrogen-doped Cu 2 O films show higher absorption of low-energy photons while all films exhibit an optical bandgap between 1.9 and 2.0 eV.
ISSN:0160-8371
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2012.6318116