Characterization of titanium-vanadium oxides deposited on silicon substrates using in photovoltaic applications

The current work is concerned with heterojunctions consist of transparent oxide semiconductors (TOSs) deposited on different silicon (Si) substrates using in photovoltaics. The TOS-Si heterojunctions were fabricated by high energy reactive magnetron sputtering (HE RMS). The sputtering was performed from V metallic foils located on Ti target. As a TOS materials the mixed titanium-vanadium (Ti-V) oxides have been selected. The nanocrystalline titanium-vanadium thin films have high transmission coefficient (ca. 76 % in visible spectral range), resistivity 10⁵ Ωcm at room temperature and n-type electrical conduction. Additionally, the TOS films deposited on Si substrate perform a antireflection function through reduce reflection coefficient of pure Si ones. Based on current to voltage (I-V) measurements of different TOS-Si heterojunctions, the existence of a photoelectric effect under the influence of active area radiation has been found. Therefore, the applicability of mixed titanium-vanadium oxides to various photovoltaics application has been discussed.