Nanocluster n-CdO thin film by sol–gel for solar cell applications

The nanocluster-CdO film was successfully synthesized by sol–gel method using cadmium acetate and 2-metoxyethanol as starting materials and monoethanolamine as a stabilizer. The structural properties of the CdO film were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM results indicate that the CdO film is consisted of nanoclusters with grain size of 75–85 nm. The optical band gap Eg of nanocluster-CdO film was found to be 2.27 eV. The heterostructure, formed from two semiconductor layers having different optical band gaps, p-Si/n-CdO is prepared as a solar cell device. The electrical properties of the device were characterized by current–voltage and capacitance–conductance–voltage methods. The photovoltaic properties of p-Si/n-CdO device have been investigated. The p-Si/n-CdO heterojunction solar cell shows the best values of Voc = 0.41 and Jsc = 2.19 mA/cm2 under AM1.5 illumination. It is evaluated that this work is useful as a basis for the search of nanomaterial CdO and more competitive p-Si/n-CdO based solar cells, despite the fact that Voc and Jsc are lower than those reported in the literature.