Impedance and electrical properties of Cu doped ZnO thin films

TL;DR

This study investigates how doping ZnO thin films with copper affects their electrical and photovoltaic properties, revealing optimal doping levels for enhanced conductivity without compromising transparency.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of Cu doping on ZnO thin films' impedance and photovoltaic behavior, with detailed analysis up to 5% doping concentration.

Findings

Cu doping improves electrical conductivity of ZnO films.

Maximum impedance observed at 3% Cu doping.

Photocurrent increases with Cu doping up to 5%.

Abstract

Cu doped transparent ZnO thin films were spin coated on conductive glass substrates. The samples were subsequently annealed in air for 1 hour at 500 0C in order to form the phase of ZnO. ZnO samples were doped with different Cu molar percentages up to 5%. The impedance and photovoltaic properties of sample were measured. Photocurrent and photovoltage of doped and undoped samples were measured in KI/I2 electrolyte. Adding a trace amount of Cu improved the conducting properties of ZnO samples without changing other basic properties of ZnO. The photocurrent gradually increases with the doping concentration due to the high conducting properties of Cu. Investigation was carried out only up to the doping concentration of 5%, because higher doping concentrations may significantly influence the other properties of ZnO such as transparence of the film. Impedance of samples was determined by fitting the data to an equivalent circuit. The impedance reaches the maximum value at Cu concentrations of 3%.