Sputtered ITO for application in thin-film silicon solar cells: Relationship between structural and electrical properties

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films for application in thin-film silicon solar cells with superior electrical and optical properties (resistivity ranging from 1.4 to 8.4 × 10−4 Ω cm; transparency of >80%) have been investigated. ITO layers were deposited by radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering process at different argon gas pressures and substrate temperatures ranging from room temperature to 280 °C. The main goal was to identify the relationship between structural and electrical properties. Generally, ITO layers were rather smooth with granular topography; electro-optically superior layers exhibited substantially different surface morphology of large, well-organized domain formations. Hall mobility of remarkably high value of 49 cm2/V s (resistivity of 2.6 × 10−4 Ω cm) was achieved for the ITO layers, which were deposited at surprisingly low temperature of 125 °C. ITO process has been successfully applied, even at room temperature, to fabricate front contacts for microcrystalline silicon solar cells, exhibiting excellent performance on both rigid and flexible substrates.