Synthesis and Simulation of Metal Oxide based Nanostructures for Thin-Film Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

In this work, we employed a solution-based hydrothermal process to synthesize the Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanorods on a coated glass substrate. For the growth process, metal oxide with a thickness <300 was used as a seed layer for further growth of nanostructures. The glass substrate coated with metal oxide was then immersed in the precursor solution, then a hydrothermal process was performed at 90 ° C using different types of growth hours. The length and diameter of ZnO nanorods were controlled by varying the growth time, the concentration of the precursor solution and the temperature etc. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were used to determine the surface morphology of metal Nano-oxide rods. Characterization of the optical transmission (full and diffuse) was performed using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. In addition, the photovoltaic device was simulated using (ZnO) and amorphous silicon layers (p, i, n) from thin film solar cell (TFSC) functions.