Management of light trapping capability of AZO film for Si thin film solar cells-via tailoring surface texture

In this paper, novel micro- and nano-composite Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films with broadband-gap light-trapping capacity was successfully fabricated by post-chemical-etching AZO film and re-sputtering self-textured H and Al co-doped ZnO (HAZO) film. The influence of pressure and etching time on the optical and electrical properties of HAZO, AZO, and AZO/HAZO films were systematically investigated. The performance of this novel ZnO film was increased remarkably compared to that of the post-etched AZO film or native textured HAZO film for both long and short wavelengths. Microcrystalline silicon solar cells deposited on this new type of AZO/HAZO films exhibited a strong enhancement of 13.4% in the conversion efficiency, demonstrating its wide application prospect.