INFLUENCE OF ITO DEPOSITION TECHNOLOGY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SIS (ITO-SIO2-SI) SOLAR-CELLS

The behavior of ITO-SiO2-Si (p- or n-type) solar cells, fabricated using a reactive d.c. magnetron sputtering technique is investigated. Using a numerical simulation model, it is shown that the presence of interface states introduced during the deposition procedure can explain the photovoltaic performance of both cell types. The reactive d.c. magnetron sputtering deposition method proves to be unsuitable for fabricating efficient solar cells on both n- and p-type substrates, the observed efficiencies being 4 and 0.2%, respectively. The influence on the cells properties of the RF substrate biasing and the d.c.-power applied to the target is also investigated.