Amorphous Carbon Deposited by a Novel Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition for Photovoltaic Solar Cells

Amorphous carbon (a-C) solar cells were successfully prepared using a novel and self-designed aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) method using camphor oil as a precursor. The fabricated solar cell with the configuration of Au/p-C/n-Si/Au achieved an efficiency of 0.008% with a fill factor of 0.15 for the device deposited at 0.5 h. The current-voltage (I-V) graph emphasized on the linear graph (ohmic) for the a-C thin films, whereas for the p-n device structure, a rectifying curve was obtained. The rectifying curves signify the heterojunction between the p-type a-C film and the n-Si substrate and designate the generation of electron-hole pair of the samples under illumination. Photoresponse characteristics of the deposited a-C was highlighted when being illuminated (AM 1.5 illumination: 100 mW/cm(2), 25 degrees C). Transmittance spectrum exhibit a large transmittance value (> 85%) and absorption coefficient value of 10(3)-10(4) cm(-1) at the visible range of 390 to 790 nm. The atomization of a liquid precursor solution into fine sub-micrometre-sized aerosol droplets in AACVD induced the smooth surface of a-C films. To the best of our knowledge, fabrication of a-C solar cell using this AACVD method has not yet been reported. (C) 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physics