Fabrication of transparent CuCrO2:Mg/ZnO p-n junctions prepared by pulsed laser deposition on glass substrate

Transparent p-n heterojunctions composed of zinc oxide, copper-chromium, and indium tin oxide films were fabricated by the pulsed laser deposition technique on a glass substrate. The effect of the deposition temperature of the p-CuCrO2:Mg layer in the junction on photovoltaic properties was investigated. Post-annealing was performed to improve the crystallinity of the semiconductor layers deposited at a relatively lower temperature. The rectifying characteristics were observed in the current-voltage curves of the prepared junctions for both p- and n-layers as thin as 100 nm. A sample in which the copper-chromium oxide layer was deposited at 250 degrees C and annealed at 500 degrees C for 10 min exhibited the highest photovoltage-as large as 184 mV-under irradiation at lambda approximate to 375 nm. The optical transmission of the p-n junction sample was 70% in the visible region. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.