SBIR Phase I: Low Resistivity Zinc Oxide by Solution Deposition as a Transparent Conducting Oxide for Solar Cells

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种基于解决方案的技术，以沉积电阻率为1 x 10-4欧姆-厘米或更低的掺杂氧化锌薄膜。一种丰富而廉价的材料将被用作掺杂剂。研究掺杂氧化锌薄膜的结构和光学性质，以及沉积后退火对提高其导电性的影响。随着本项目的进一步努力，不断提高电导率，掺杂氧化锌薄膜有望作为透明导电氧化物（TCO）应用于薄膜太阳能电池。该项目更广泛的商业影响将是提供一种可行的候选材料，作为薄膜太阳能电池中常用的TCO的低成本替代品。目前，tco通常采用真空溅射工艺沉积，其成本效益不如基于溶液的技术。随着薄膜太阳能电池在未来几十年的快速增长，低成本TCO的可用性将是降低薄膜太阳能电池整体成本的关键，从而使其更便宜。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a solution-based technique to deposit doped zinc oxide thin film with resistivity that is 1 x 10-4 Ohm-cm or lower. An abundant and low-cost material will be used as the dopant. Structural and optical properties, and effects of post-deposition annealing will be studied to improve the conductivity of doped zinc oxide thin films. With further efforts beyond this project to continuously improve the conductivity, the doped zinc oxide thin film is expected to be used as transparent conductive oxide (TCO) in thin-film solar cells. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide a viable material candidate as a low-cost alternative to the commonly used TCO in thin-film solar cells. Currently, TCOs are generally deposited by vacuum-based sputtering process, which is not as cost-effective as solution-based technique. With the expected fast growth of thin-film solar cells in the coming decades, the availability of low-cost TCO will be critical to reduce the overall cost of thin-film solar cell, thus making it more affordable.