Study of Sulphidation of Electrodeposited Cu2O Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

Cuprous oxide (Cu20 ) layers were potentiostatically electrodeposited on glass/ITO substrates and then they were partially sulphided using Na2S and H2S. Resulting layers were used to fabricate ITO/n-Cu20/p-CuxS thin film solar cells. Spectral response measurements showed that the cell structure exhibits both n- and p-type behavior. Sulphidation of Cu20 does not produce CuxS thick layers adequate for efficient heterojunction solar cell, but improved the photovoltaic activity. The best device fabricated shows V? = 240 mV and Isc= 1.6mA/cm2 under AM 1 artificial illumination.