Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 2013-01-01

ZnO/p-GaN heterostructure for solar cells and the effect of ZnGa2O4 interlayer on their performance.

Seung Yong Nam, Yong Seok Choi, Ju Ho Lee, Seong Ju Park, Jeong Yong Lee, Dong Seon Lee

Index: J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 13(1) , 448-51, (2013)

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Abstract

We report the usage of ZnO material as an alternative for n-GaN for realizing III-nitride based solar cell. The fabricated solar cell shows large turn-on voltage of around 8 volts and a rapid decrease of photocurrent at low bias voltage under darkness and 1-sun illumination conditions, respectively. This phenomenon can be attributed to the formation of high-resistive ultra-thin layers at the ZnO/ p-GaN junction interface during high temperature deposition. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies carried out on the grown samples reveals that the ultra-thin layer consists of ZnGa2O4. It is found that the presence of insulating ZnGa2O4 film is detrimental in the performance of proposed heterostructure for solar cells.