Structural and Optoelectronic Characterization of CdO/Si Solar Cell Prepared by DC Magnetron Sputtering

Cadmium oxide thin films were prepared by DC magnetron sputtering in argon gas mixed with 20 % oxygen gas with different sputtering voltages (700 - 1200) V at 0.3 mbar pressure. The prepared films annealed in oxygen atmosphere at 523 K. The structural and optical properties of the produced films were examined by X-ray diffraction and UV-Visible absorbance, respectively. The results show a polycrystalline structure and the crystallinety of the films was enhanced. Also the results revealed that the crystalline size and the lattice parameter increase with increasing of the sputtering voltage. UV-Visible measurements show that the absorbance thin films increases while the optical energy gap decreases with increasing the sputtering voltage. I-V Characteristics show a low efficiency for all samples, but the efficiency decreases with increasing of the sputtering voltage from 900 to 1200 V.