Nanotech thin film photovoltaics

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia de Electrónica e Telecomunicações

Admittance spectroscopy of Cu2ZnSnS4 based thin film solar cells

In this report, we propose an AC response equivalent circuit model to describe the admittance measurements of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cell grown by sulphurization of stacked metallic precursors. This circuit describes the contact resistances, the back contact, and the heterojunction with two trap levels. The study of the back contact resistance allowed the estimation of a back contact barrier of 246 meV. The analysis of the trap series with varying temperature revealed defect activation energies of 45 meV and 113 meV. The solar cell’s electrical parameters were obtained from the J-V curve: conversion efficiency, 1.21%; fill factor, 50%; open circuit voltage, 360 mV; and short circuit current density, 6.8 mA/cm2.

Mo bilayer for thin film photovoltaics revisited

Thin film solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 as an absorber layer use Mo as the back contact. This metal is widely used in research and in industry but despite this, there are only a few published studies on the properties of Mo. Properties such as low resistivity and good adhesion to soda lime glass are hard to obtain at the same time. These properties are dependent on the deposition conditions and are associated with the overall stress state of the film. In this report, a study of the deposition of a Mo bilayer is carried out by analysing first single and then bilayers. The best properties of the bilayer were achieved when the bottom layer was deposited at 10 × 10−3 mbar with a thickness of 500 nm and the top layer deposited at 1 × 10−3 mbar with a thickness of 300 nm. The films deposited under these conditions showed good adhesion and a sheet resistivity lower than 0.8 .

Viability of the use of thin-film A-SiC:H photodiodes for protein identification

In this paper, we present a multilayer device based on a-Si:H/a-SiC:H that operates as photodetector and optical filter. The use of such device in protein detection applications is relevant in Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) measurements. This method demands the detection of fluorescent signals located at specific wavelengths bands in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The device operates in the visible range with a selective sensitivity dependent on electrical and optical bias. Several nanosensors were tested with a commercial spectrophotometer to assess the performance of FRET signals using glucose solutions of different concentrations. The proposed device was used to demonstrate the possibility of FRET signals detection, using visible signals of similar wavelength and intensity. The device sensitivity was tuned to enhance the wavelength band of interest using steady state optical bias at 400 nm. Results show the ability of the device to detect signals in this range. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fully transparent ZnO thin-film transistor produced at room temperature

Advanced Materials, Vol. 17, nº 5

Influence of the deposition pressure on the properties of transparent and conductive ZnO: Ga thin-film produced by r.f. sputtering at room temperature

Thin Solid Films, vol. 427, nº 1-2

Laser-induced diffusion decomposition in Fe-V thin-film alloys

We investigate the origin of ferromagnetism induced in thin-film (similar to 20 nm) Fe-V alloys by their irradiation with subpicosecond laser pulses. We find with Rutherford backscattering that the magnetic modifications follow a thermally stimulated process of diffusion decomposition, with formation of a-few-nm-thick Fe enriched layer inside the film. Surprisingly, similar transformations in the samples were also found after their long-time (similar to 10(3) s) thermal annealing. However, the laser action provides much higher diffusion coefficients (similar to 4 orders of magnitude) than those obtained under standard heat treatments. We get a hint that this ultrafast diffusion decomposition occurs in the metallic glassy state achievable in laser-quenched samples. This vitrification is thought to be a prerequisite for the laser-induced onset of ferromagnetism that we observe. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transparent oxide thin-film transistors: production, characterization and integration

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nanotechnologies and Nanosciences by Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

A comparison between thin film solar cells made from co-evaporated CuIn1-xGaxSe2using a one-stage process versus a three-stage process

Until this day, the most efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells have been prepared using a rather complex growth process often referred to as three-stage or multistage. This family of processes is mainly characterized by a first step deposited with only In, Ga and Se flux to form a first layer. Cu is added in a second step until the film becomes slightly Cu-rich, where-after the film is converted to its final Cu-poor composition by a third stage, again with no or very little addition of Cu. In this paper, a comparison between solar cells prepared with the three-stage process and a one-stage/in-line process with the same composition, thickness, and solar cell stack is made. The one-stage process is easier to be used in an industrial scale and do not have Cu-rich transitions. The samples were analyzed using glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, current–voltage-temperature, capacitance-voltage, external quantum efficiency, transmission/reflection, and photoluminescence. It was concluded that in spite of differences in the texturing, morphology and Ga gradient, the electrical performance of the two types of samples is quite similar as demonstrated by the similar J–V behavior, quantum spectral response, and the estimated recombination losses.

Development of copper and nickel based oxide thin-films: design and fabrication of thin-film transistors

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Nanotecnologia e Nanociência

Degradation of all-inkjet-printed organic thin-film transistors with TIPS-pentacene under processes applied in textile manufacturing

Printed electronics represent an alternative solution for the manufacturing of low-temperature and large area flexible electronics. The use of inkjet printing is showing major advantages when compared to other established printing technologies such as, gravure, screen or offset printing, allowing the reduction of manufacturing costs due to its efficient material usage and the direct-writing approach without requirement of any masks. However, several technological restrictions for printed electronics can hinder its application potential, e.g. the device stability under atmospheric or even more stringent conditions. Here, we study the influence of specific mechanical, chemical, and temperature treatments usually appearing in manufacturing processes for textiles on the electrical performance of all-inkjet-printed organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). Therefore, OTFTs where manufactured with silver electrodes, a UV curable dielectric, and 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentance (TIPS-pentacene) as the active semiconductor layer. All the layers were deposited using inkjet printing. After electrical characterization of the printed OTFTs, a simple encapsulation method was applied followed by the degradation study allowing a comparison of the electrical performance of treated and not treated OTFTs. Industrial calendering, dyeing, washing and stentering were selected as typical textile processes and treatment methods for the printed OTFTs. It is shown that the all-inkjet-printed OTFTs fabricated in this work are functional after their submission to the textiles processes but with degradation in the electrical performance, exhibiting higher degradation in the OTFTs with shorter channel lengths (L=10 μm).

Study of the tightness of the metallization used on top of a thin film capacitor cell

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia de Materiais

Multifunctional Ti–Me (Me=Al, Cu) thin film systems for biomedical sensing devices

Ti-Me binary intermetallic thin films based on a titanium matrix doped with increasing amounts of Me (Me = Al, Cu) were prepared by magnetron sputtering (under similar conditions), aiming their application in biomedical sensing devices. The differences observed on the composition and on the micro(structural) features of the films, attributed to changes in the discharge characteristics, were correlated with the electrical properties of the intermetallic systems (Ti-Al and Ti-Cu). For the same Me exposed areas placed on the Ti target (ranging from 0.25 cm2 to 20 cm2) the Cu content increased from 3.5 at.% to 71.7 at.% in the Ti-Cu system and the Al content, in Ti-Al films, ranged from 11 to 45 at.%. The structural characterization evidenced the formation of metastable Ti-Me intermetallic phases for Al/Ti atomic ratios above 0.20 and for Cu/Ti ratios above 0.25. For lower Me concentrations, the effect of the α-Ti(Me) structure domains the overall structure. With the increase amount of the Me into Ti structure a clear trend for amorphization was observed. For both systems it was observed a significant decrease of the electrical resistivity with increasing Me/Ti atomic ratios (higher than 0.5 for Al/Ti atomic ratio and higher than 1.3 for Cu/Ti atomic ratio). Although similar trends were observed in the resistivity evolution for both systems, the Ti-Cu films presented lower resistivity values in comparison to Ti-Al system.