Property control of expanding thermal plasma deposited textured zinc oxide with focus on thin film solar cell applications

Property control of expanding thermal plasma deposited textured zinc oxide is demonstrated considering intrinsic, i.e. bulk, and extrinsic transparent conducting oxide quality relevant for application in thin film amorphous silicon pin solar cells. Particularly the interdependence of electrical conductivity, film composition and film morphology, i.e. structure, feature shape and roughness of the surface, is addressed. Control of film composition is mainly governed by plasma production and gas phase chemistry inherently inducing a significant contribution to film morphology, whereas control of film morphology solely is governed by near-substrate conditions. Especially the ratio of zinc to oxygen and the reactor chamber pressure appear to be determinative in obtaining zinc oxide exhibiting the appropriate intrinsic and extrinsic quality, i.e. a high electrical conductivity, a high transmittance, a textured rough surface morphology and a strong hydrogen plasma resistance. The solar cell performance of appropriate undoped and aluminium doped textured zinc oxide inherently obtained during deposition is comparable with respect to Asahi U-type fluorine-doped tin oxide.