Effect Of Oxidation Temperature And Oxidation Time On Thickness Of Copper (I) Oxide (Cu2O) Solar Cell

Abstract

Investigation has been made concerning the effect of oxidation temperature and time on the thickness of copper (I) oxides solar cells prepared by thermal oxidation method. The samples were oxidized at different oxidation temperatures and time. The different oxidation temperatures and lengths of time ware employed in order to find which oxidation temperature and time would result in the least thickness and stability of Cu₂O on Cu which is a factor of the sample resistivity and output performance of a solar cell. Result shows that samples oxidized at the following temperatures and times gave the least thicknesses and stable oxides when compared with other samples at the different oxidation temperature and time: 950⁰C for 7minutes, 970⁰C for 6minutes, 980⁰C for 5minutes, 1000⁰C for 4minutes and 1050⁰C for 3 minutes. It was further observed that samples oxidized above or below these temperatures and times do not only exhibit poor performance when used in solar cell fabrication, but also stand the risk of breakage during chemical etching process as a result of the oxides being fragile.

Keywords: Annealing, etching, copper (I) oxide, thermal oxidation.

Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 19 (1) 2007: pp. 55-62