Doped nanostructured zinc oxide films grown by electrodeposition

V.DONDERIS; J.OROZCO; J.CEMBRERO; J.CURIEL-ESPARZA; L. C. DAMONTE; M.A.HERNÁNDEZ-FENOLLOSA

Corfú, Grecia

Simposio; XIV International Symposium on Metastable and Nanocrystalline Materials (ISMANAM07),; 2007

Zinc oxide films doped with either In or Al are an interesting n-type oxide material for application in electronic devices and thin-film solar cells. When doped (n-type) can be used as the transparent conducting top electrode as well as improve the recombination mechanism in nanostructured hybrid solar cells. In this work we describe the use of In and Al as the n-type dopant. Doped ZnO thin films were grown on ITO and ITO/ZnO covered glass substrates at 80oC from aqueous solution and annealed at 300oC.  The effect of different dopant-concentration, as well as the substrate treatment, on the structural and optical properties of ZnO electrodeposited thin films has been analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and optical transmission and reflection measurements. The results are compared with undoped ZnO thin films prepared in a similar way. The study indicate that a [InCl2] ~ 15 mM and a [Al2Cl3]~6mM originate ZnO films with optimal dopant concentration that can be use for application in new optoelectronic devices.