Optical and electrical properties of rare earth doped ZnO thin films for
solar cell devices
M. Nistor
1,*
, F.Gherendi
1
, E. Millon
2
, J. Perrière
3,4
1
National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics (NILPRP), L22 P.O. Box. MG-
36, 077125 Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
2
GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS-Université d’Orléans, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
3
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7588, INSP, F-75005, Paris, France
4
CNRS, UMR 7588, INSP, F-75005, Paris, France
E-mail :
Transparent conductive oxides that have both low resistivity and high transparency in the
visible and near-infrared wavelengths are required for the solar cells. ZnO is a promising
candidate as transparent layer for solar cells and doping with rare earth elements could be an
interesting way to obtain optically active layers for photonic conversion.
In this work rare earth doped ZnO films were grown at various oxygen pressures and
substrate temperatures by pulsed electron beam deposition method. For limited rare earth-
doping concentration up to a few % the hexagonal ZnO wurtzite structure with a preferential
orientation (c-axis texture) was preserved. The composition and structure of these films were
correlated to their electrical and optical properties. By the precise control of the growth
conditions these films can be tuned to have either degenerate or non-degenerate
semiconductor characteristics, always with a high optical transmittance in the visible range,
while that in the near-infrared range depends on the carrier concentration. The electron
transport mechanisms limiting the carrier mobility were investigated and discussed in the
frame of existing models from literature including ionized impurity, phonon and grain
boundary scattering [1].
[1] A. Bikowski, K.Ellmer, J.Appl.Phys, 116, 143704 (2014)
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