@Article{CL.2023.202.91,
AUTHOR = {R. H. Athab, B. H. Hussein},
TITLE = {Studying the effect of copper on the p-ZnTe/n-AgCuInSe<sub>2</sub>/p-Si for thin films solar cell applications},
JOURNAL = {Chalcogenide Letters},
VOLUME = {20},
YEAR = {2023},
NUMBER = {2},
PAGES = {91--100},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/CL/v20n2/65332},
ISSN = {1584-8663},
ABSTRACT = {A thin film of AgInSe<sub>2</sub> and Ag<sub>1-x</sub>Cu<sub>x</sub>InSe<sub>2</sub> as well as n-Ag<sub>1-x</sub>Cu<sub>x</sub>InSe<sub>2</sub> /p-Si heterojunction 
with different Cu ratios (0, 0.1, 0.2) has been successfully fabricated by thermal 
evaporation method as absorbent layer with thickness about 700 nm and ZnTe as window 
layer with thickness about 100 nm. We made a multi-layer of p-ZnTe/n-AgCuInSe2/p-Si 
structures, In the present work, the conversion efficiency (η) increased when added the Cu 
and when used p-ZnTe as a window layer (WL) the bandgap energy of the direct transition 
decreases from 1.75 eV (Cu=0.0) to 1.48 eV (Cu=0.2 nm) and the bandgap energy for 
ZnTe=2.35 eV. The measurements of the electrical properties for prepared films showed 
that the D.C electrical conductivity (σd.c) increased with increasing Cu content for 
AgCuInSe2 thin films. So the electrical conductivity changed from 1 (Ω.cm)
<sup>-1</sup>
 to 29.96 
(Ω.cm)
<sup>-1</sup>
 when x changed from 0.0 to 0.2. The prepared thin films have two activation 
energies (E<sub>a1</sub> & E<sub>a2</sub>) in the temperature ranges of (300-393) K and (303-473) K. The C-V 
measurements revealed that all prepared heterojunctions were of the abrupt type and the 
junction capacitance reduced while the width of depletion region and the built-in potential 
increased with increasing the Cooper content. The current-voltage characteristics under 
dark condition of AgCuInSe2 heterojunctions, the current-voltage measurements under 
illumination showed that the performance of heterojunction solar cell improved with 
increasing Cu content. The result indicated that the prepared solar cell with 0.2 Ag content 
exhibited the highest efficiency (η = 1.68%) compared to other prepared solar cells. },
DOI = {10.15251/CL.2023.202.91}
}