Thin film ZnO/Si heterojunction solar cells: Design and implementation

New approaches are being explored towards a successful thin film ZnO/Si heterojunction solar cell. The current approach involves Al-doped ZnO and microcrystalline Si grown by metal-induced growth. Nanoparticles added to the ZnO layer may introduce plasmonic effects and light scattering. Current work using an Al-ZnO/Buffer/Bulk-Si device has achieved a J_SC of 28.26 mA/cm², a V_OC of 360 mV, and an efficiency of 5.91%. Fabricated Schottky photodiode devices using MIG-Si have achieved a J_SC of around 5.4 mA/cm² and V_OC of 245 mV. According to simulations, an Al-ZnO/MIG-Si device can reach a J^SC of 18.54 mA/cm², a V_OC of 670 mV, and an efficiency of 10.359% without plasmonic effects.