Characterization of Cadmium Stannate as a Transparent Conducting Oxide
Abstract
Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) have wide spread usage in optoelectronic devices such as touchscreens and liquid crystal displays. This study is based on the optimization of cadmium stannate as a TCO for photovoltaic applications. Ideally TCO should be transparent in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum to allow maximum efficiency in solar cells. RF magnetron sputtering was used to deposit thin films of cadmium stannate under argon, oxygen and argon-oxygen environments. Other conditions such as temperature, deposition pressure and deposition power were also varied and their effects were closely monitored. The films then underwent an elevated temperature annealing process in the presence of cadmium sulfide. Mobility and resistivity was measured using Hall effect measurements both before and after the annealing process. UV-Visible spectroscopy was used to determine the transmittance of light and estimate the band gap of cadmium stannate. Resultant data on transmittance, mobility, band gap, resistivity and carrier density will be presented.
Characterization of Cadmium Stannate as a Transparent Conducting Oxide
Transparent conducting oxides (TCO) have wide spread usage in optoelectronic devices such as touchscreens and liquid crystal displays. This study is based on the optimization of cadmium stannate as a TCO for photovoltaic applications. Ideally TCO should be transparent in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum to allow maximum efficiency in solar cells. RF magnetron sputtering was used to deposit thin films of cadmium stannate under argon, oxygen and argon-oxygen environments. Other conditions such as temperature, deposition pressure and deposition power were also varied and their effects were closely monitored. The films then underwent an elevated temperature annealing process in the presence of cadmium sulfide. Mobility and resistivity was measured using Hall effect measurements both before and after the annealing process. UV-Visible spectroscopy was used to determine the transmittance of light and estimate the band gap of cadmium stannate. Resultant data on transmittance, mobility, band gap, resistivity and carrier density will be presented.