Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT

This paper focuses on exploring new materials and structure as a means to increase the efficiency of solar cells. Since silicon is widespread on earth, it is desirable to study heterojunction solar cells made mainly of silicon and new materials. Therefore, ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si heterojunction solar cel...

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Main Authors: Jasurbek Gulomov, Oussama Accouche, Rayimjon Aliev, Raymond Ghandour, Irodakhon Gulomova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10103902/
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author Jasurbek Gulomov
Oussama Accouche
Rayimjon Aliev
Raymond Ghandour
Irodakhon Gulomova
author_facet Jasurbek Gulomov
Oussama Accouche
Rayimjon Aliev
Raymond Ghandour
Irodakhon Gulomova
author_sort Jasurbek Gulomov
collection DOAJ
description This paper focuses on exploring new materials and structure as a means to increase the efficiency of solar cells. Since silicon is widespread on earth, it is desirable to study heterojunction solar cells made mainly of silicon and new materials. Therefore, ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si heterojunction solar cells were studied in this paper. First, the electrical and optical properties of ZnO and TiO2 were determined using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), PBE functional revised for solids (PBESol) and Perdew-Wang (PW91) functionals of the Generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in Density Functional Theory (DFT). The obtained results in various functionals are assessed and analyzed. It was found that geometric optimized structures of TiO2 and ZnO is mechanical stable. Accordingly, in all functionals, the effective mass of the electron in ZnO and TiO2 proved to be smaller than that of the hole. The mobility of electrons and holes in ZnO was calculated to be 430.72 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 5.25 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> respectively. In TiO2, it was 355.27 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 46.38 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. When PW91, PBESol, PBE functionals were used, the dielectric constant was determined to be 11, 11.5, 8.5 for ZnO and 9.5, 10, 9 for TiO2, respectively. According to the DFT results, it was determined that ZnO and TiO2 are transparent and mainly n-type direct semiconductors. According to device simulation, the maximum short-circuit current of ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si heterojunction solar cells is 18 mA/cm2 at a thickness of 80 nm and 15.3 mA/cm2 at a thickness of 40 nm. Finally, the average fill factor of ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si solar cells was 0.73 and 0.76 respectively. So TiO2 can be used as a transparent contact and ZnO as an emitter layer in a silicon-based solar cell.
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spelling doaj.art-afc94f3fd7d94796a3f7426e69bf92eb2023-04-24T23:00:42ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362023-01-0111389703898110.1109/ACCESS.2023.326803310103902Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFTJasurbek Gulomov0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-987XOussama Accouche1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7759-5362Rayimjon Aliev2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1986-2199Raymond Ghandour3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1917-644XIrodakhon Gulomova4Renewable Energy Sources Laboratory, Andijan State University, Andijan, UzbeksitanCollege of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East, Egaila, KuwaitRenewable Energy Sources Laboratory, Andijan State University, Andijan, UzbeksitanCollege of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East, Egaila, KuwaitRenewable Energy Sources Laboratory, Andijan State University, Andijan, UzbeksitanThis paper focuses on exploring new materials and structure as a means to increase the efficiency of solar cells. Since silicon is widespread on earth, it is desirable to study heterojunction solar cells made mainly of silicon and new materials. Therefore, ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si heterojunction solar cells were studied in this paper. First, the electrical and optical properties of ZnO and TiO2 were determined using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), PBE functional revised for solids (PBESol) and Perdew-Wang (PW91) functionals of the Generalized gradient approximation (GGA) in Density Functional Theory (DFT). The obtained results in various functionals are assessed and analyzed. It was found that geometric optimized structures of TiO2 and ZnO is mechanical stable. Accordingly, in all functionals, the effective mass of the electron in ZnO and TiO2 proved to be smaller than that of the hole. The mobility of electrons and holes in ZnO was calculated to be 430.72 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 5.25 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> respectively. In TiO2, it was 355.27 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 46.38 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{-1}\text{s}^{-1}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. When PW91, PBESol, PBE functionals were used, the dielectric constant was determined to be 11, 11.5, 8.5 for ZnO and 9.5, 10, 9 for TiO2, respectively. According to the DFT results, it was determined that ZnO and TiO2 are transparent and mainly n-type direct semiconductors. According to device simulation, the maximum short-circuit current of ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si heterojunction solar cells is 18 mA/cm2 at a thickness of 80 nm and 15.3 mA/cm2 at a thickness of 40 nm. Finally, the average fill factor of ZnO/Si and TiO2/Si solar cells was 0.73 and 0.76 respectively. So TiO2 can be used as a transparent contact and ZnO as an emitter layer in a silicon-based solar cell.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10103902/Numerical simulationheterojunctionssilicondensity functional theorytitanium dioxidezinc oxide
spellingShingle Jasurbek Gulomov
Oussama Accouche
Rayimjon Aliev
Raymond Ghandour
Irodakhon Gulomova
Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
IEEE Access
Numerical simulation
heterojunctions
silicon
density functional theory
titanium dioxide
zinc oxide
title Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
title_full Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
title_fullStr Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
title_short Investigation of n-ZnO/p-Si and n-TiO<sub>2</sub>/p-Si Heterojunction Solar Cells: TCAD &#x002B; DFT
title_sort investigation of n zno p si and n tio sub 2 sub p si heterojunction solar cells tcad x002b dft
topic Numerical simulation
heterojunctions
silicon
density functional theory
titanium dioxide
zinc oxide
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10103902/
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