Titanium doped cupric oxide for photovoltaic application

The potential of titanium (Ti) incorporation into cupric oxide (CuO) is demonstrated. The optical, electrical, microstructural, material quality, chemical composition, surface morphology, and photovoltaic properties of Ti doped CuO, CuO(Ti) have been systematically investigated. It is shown that Ti doped CuO reduces sheet resistance and improved the charge transport properties. Furthermore, by tuning the Ti concentration, the conductivity of CuO(Ti) can be improved, while retaining the optical properties and crystallinity of the samples. Heterojunction solar cells of p-type Ti doped CuO on n-type silicon (Si) substrate, p-CuO(Ti)/n-Si, prepared by using conventional sputter deposition at room temperature followed by rapid thermal annealing at 300 degrees C to investigate the impact of Ti doped CuO on the performance of photovoltaic properties. The short circuit current and efficiency of p-CuO(Ti)/n-Si heterojunction have been significantly improved compared to the cells without Ti doped CuO. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.