ITO-Based Selective Contacts for Silicon Solar Devices

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films are deposited at room temperature on p-type crystalline silicon substrates by direct-current magnetron (DC) sputtering. The ITO thickness is varied from 45 to 140 nm and the applied DC power, from 15 to 100W. Solar devices incorporating ITO as selective layer contact are fabricated using Ti/Ag as metallic electrodes. The main aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of ITO thickness and sputtering conditions on the main solar parameters such as short-circuit current density and open circuit voltage. The promising results show ITO could substitute conventional emitters such as hydrogenated amorphous silicon used in silicon technology.