INVESTIGATIONS ON THE PHOTOVOLTAIC PROPERTIES OF INDIUM TIN OXIDE (ITO)/N-GAAS HETEROJUNCTIONS

This paper deals with the photovoltaic behaviour of indium tin oxide (ITO)/n-GaAs heterojunctions. Earlier studies on these junctions have shown that they are either non-rectifying or exhibit very low values of open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current. However, here an efficiency of 6.8% (under ELH simulation) has been reported. The junctions are prepared by depositing ITO on n-GaAs by a simple reactive thermal evaporation of InSn alloy. The substrate temperature has been found to play an important role on the device performance. The I-V characteristics and the spectral response in conjunction with previous knowledge of these junctions suggest that the possible formation of an interfacial layer of InxGa1-xAs could affect the device performance considerably, particularly at higher fabrication temperatures. © 1990.