Aluminum, copper doped zinc oxide semiconductor synthesis

Photovoltaic cells are semiconducting materials that directly convert the sunlight coming to their surfaces into electrical energy. Photovoltaic cells are silicon–based systems produced by semiconductor technology. The high cost of silicon–based systems reveals thin film technology. Transparent conductive oxides are used for electrical conductivity in thin film technology. The most preferred one is ZnO. The zinc oxide (ZnO) band gap is a material with high permeability ranging from 3.1 to 3.4 eV. The change of electrical properties with the doping made to ZnO ensures the emergence of new application areas. In this study, the sol–gel method of ZnO, Al–doped ZnO, Cu–doped ZnO and Al–Cu doped ZnO thin films deposited on indium tin oxide (ITO) were prepared. The prepared ZnO thin films were investigated for their structural and electrical properties after annealing at 500 oC for 1 hour. According to the results obtained from the Nyquist diagrams of the ZnO thin films, the resistance value was found to decrease with binary doping and the resistance value was found to be lowest in ZnO–Al–Cu doped thin film containing 0,01M Al and 0,1M Cu. As ZnO thin films go to cathodic potentials, it is seen that the cathodic current value of ZnO with undoped is the lowest. It has been found that only Al and Cu doping showed less cathodic current than double doping. Key Words: ZnO, Sol–Gel, Aluminum, Copper, Doping.