Cost-Effective and Self-Textured Gallium-Doped Zinc Oxide Front Contacts for Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Thin-Film Solar Cells

We adopt a economical and original method to fabricate self-textured gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) front contacts for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si: H) single-junction solar cells. This technique involves an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and a dc sputtering process. The electro-optical characteristics of the textured GZO films are mainly controlled by the haze of organosilicon underlayers deposited by the APPJ. The films exhibit an average optical transmittance of about 80% and resistivity below 9.91 x 10(-4) Omega cm. Moreover, compared with flat solar cells, textured cells fabricated on moderate GZO front contacts show 7.9 and 10.9% enhancements in conversion efficiency and short-circuit current density, respectively. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics