Annealing effects of sputtered Cu2O nanocolumns on ZnO-coated glass substrate for solar cell applications

Abstract

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) films were prepared on an indium tin oxide glass substrate by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering using a high-purity Cu target. The temperature of annealing was varied to obtain Cu2O thin films with various elements, compositions, and surface structures. The p-Cu 2O thin films thus formed were characterized by FESEM and XRD. After annealing at 500°C, the bilayer structure which consisted of Cu nanoclusters on the surface of a film of Cu2O nanocolumns was observed. The Cu2O solar cell with the bilayered structure exhibited poor power conversion efficiency. © 2013 Lung-Chien Chen et al.