Transparent p-Cu0.66Cr1.33O2/n-ZnO heterojunction prepared in a five-step scalable process

Abstract

Transparent and electrical conducting p-type off-stoichiometric copper–chromium oxide thin films were used to build p-Cu0.66Cr1.33O2/n-ZnO heterojunctions. The junctions were fabricated in a novel and simple five step process including metal organic chemical vapour deposition, atomic layer deposition, chemical wet etching, and optical lithography. One last step of thermal annealing, with varying temperatures of 650 and 700 °C, is added in order to tune the electrical properties of delafossite and consequently the electrical features of p–n junctions. This work was developed to address the lack of transparent and industrially scalable rectifying p–n junctions that can open multiple application paths in transparent electronics. A competitive ideality factor η of 6.6 and a transmittance in the visible range of 50% were achieved. An understanding of the electronic response of junctions is presented herein as well as a deepening comprehension of the physical properties of materials, with the bands alignment and the Fermi level tuning.