Combinatorial sputtering of Ga-doped (Zn,Mg)O for contact applications in solar cells

• Ga:(Zn, Mg)O films were prepared by sputtering, compatible with solar cell fabrication.
• High-throughput experimental approach was used to study (Zn, Mg)O:Ga thin films.
• Physical properties of Ga:(Zn1−xMgx)O are studied as a function of Mg alloy and Ga content.
• Band diagram of Ga-doped (Zn, Mg)O determined from the experimental results is presented.

Development of tunable contact materials based on environmentally friendly chemical elements using scalable deposition approaches is necessary for existing and emerging solar energy conversion technologies. In this paper, the properties of ZnO alloyed with magnesium (Mg), and doped with gallium (Ga) are studied using combinatorial thin film experiments. As a result of these studies, the optical band gap of the sputtered Zn1−xMgxO thin films was determined to vary from 3.3 to 3.6 eV for a compositional spread of Mg content in the 0.04

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