Effect of pulsed-DC power on the zinc oxide window layer of cigs solar cells deposited by in-line sputtering methods

Abstract

Zinc oxide(ZnO) thin film was deposited on the glass substrate and cadmium-sulfide(CdS) thin film at room temperature by using an in-line pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering system. The sputtering process was carried out at various pulsed-DC power and radio frequency(RF) power from 400 W to 1 kW. From the thickness of the sputtered ZnO films, it was possible to obtain much higher deposition rate in case of pulsed-DC sputtering than RF sputtering. However, for both pulsed-DC sputtered and RF sputtered ZnO films, the similar results were obtained in case of the energy band gaps and the structural characteristics such as adhesion to CdS. From the results, the ZnO films sputtered by pulsed-DC power are expected to be used in the fabrication process instead of RF power. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.