Review of preparation and optoelectronic characteristics of Cu2O-based solar cells with nanostructure

This review summarizes recent research on Cu2O-based solar cells that have nanostructures. The development of p-type semiconductors is especially to implementing p-n junctions for solar cells. Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is one of the most promising candidates for nonstoichiometric p-type transparent semiconducting oxide materials. This review discusses different methods for depositing and growing Cu2O nanocrystals with morphological control are discussed. The technological development of the Cu2O-based solar cells is reviewed, and various device architectures of nanostructured Cu2O solar cells are then presented. Optimizing the process parameters and the thickness of the ZnO layer currently yields a maximum conversion efficiency for Cu2O-based solar cells of 3.83%. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.