Improving light trapping and conversion efficiency of amorphous silicon solar cell by modified and randomly distributed ZnO nanorods

Three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures in thin film solar cells have attracted significant attention due to their applications in enhancing light trapping. Enhanced light trapping can result in more effective absorption in solar cells, thus leading to higher short-circuit current density and conversion efficiency. We develop randomly distributed and modified ZnO nanorods, which are designed and fabricated by the following processes: the deposition of a ZnO seed layer on substrate with sputtering, the wet chemical etching of the seed layer to form isolated islands for nanorod growth, the chemical bath deposition of the ZnO nanorods, and the sputtering deposition of a thin Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) layer to improve the ZnO/Si interface. Solar cells employing the modified ZnO nanorod substrate show a considerable increase in solar energy conversion efficiency. (condensed matter: structural, mechanical, and thermal properties)