Control of LPCVD ZnO growth modes for improved light trapping in thin film silicon solar cells

By controlling the deposition parameters of low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) grown ZnO transparent conductive oxide (TCO), we show that it is possible to achieve a switch of crystallographic orientations and to obtain novel surface nanotexture. The new layers are (0 0 0 2) oriented and exhibit light scattering at larger angles than state-of-the-art TCO used in thin film silicon solar cells. This property translates into a strong enhancement of the top amorphous cell current in micromorph tandem devices. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.