Growth of ZnO:Al transparent conducting layer on polymer substrate for flexible film typed dye-sensitized solar cell

Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) conducting layer was deposited on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate by r.f. magnetron sputtering to investigate the possible application of the film as transparent conducting electrode for film-typed dye-sensitized solar cells (FT-DSCs). The structural and electrical properties of ZnO:Al thin film were influenced significantly by the position of PET substrate and by also gas pressure. The minimum resistivity of 2.1 × 10−3 Ω cm was obtained at gas pressure of 5 mTorr. The deposition rate of ZnO:Al film at 5 mTorr of gas pressure was 248 nm/min. The efficiency of prepared FT-DSCs sample with ZnO:Al electrode showed about 2.1% (FF: 0.54, Voc: 0.73 V, Jsc: 5.3 mA/cm2).