Fabrication of transparent CuCrO2:Mg/ZnO p–n junctions prepared by pulsed laser deposition on glass substrate

Transparent p–n heterojunctions composed of zinc oxide, copper–chromium, and indium tin oxide films were fabricated by the pulsed laser deposition technique on a glass substrate. The effect of the deposition temperature of the p-CuCrO2:Mg layer in the junction on photovoltaic properties was investigated. Post-annealing was performed to improve the crystallinity of the semiconductor layers deposited at a relatively lower temperature. The rectifying characteristics were observed in the current–voltage curves of the prepared junctions for both p- and n-layers as thin as 100 nm. A sample in which the copper–chromium oxide layer was deposited at 250 °C and annealed at 500 °C for 10 min exhibited the highest photovoltage—as large as 184 mV—under irradiation at λ ≈ 375 nm. The optical transmission of the p–n junction sample was 70% in the visible region.