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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Journal

1997

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Thin Film Deposition Of Silicon For Solar Cell Applications, Sailesh Kumar, Roger M. Hawk Jan 1997

Thin Film Deposition Of Silicon For Solar Cell Applications, Sailesh Kumar, Roger M. Hawk

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Thin films of silicon have been formed using a patented electrostatic deposition method which utilizes charged particle motion in an electric field. After deposition, the films are heat treated for varying times and temperatures in a programmable furnace maintained under a purified argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that these films were polycrystalline in nature. These films were found to have grain sizes of about 50 microns. Solar cells were fabricated using these large grained polycrystalline silicon films by sputtering pure gold as both front and back contacts. The cells have shown efficiencies of 1.8%. This paper reports on the …


Preparation Of Powder Precursors And Evaporation Of Photoconductive Indium Sulfide Films, Chris Barber, Robert Engelken, Brandon Kemp, Wasim Aleem, Imran Khan, Chris Edrington, Michael Buck, Clayton Workman, Anup Thapa, Tom Jakobs Jan 1997

Preparation Of Powder Precursors And Evaporation Of Photoconductive Indium Sulfide Films, Chris Barber, Robert Engelken, Brandon Kemp, Wasim Aleem, Imran Khan, Chris Edrington, Michael Buck, Clayton Workman, Anup Thapa, Tom Jakobs

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We have demonstrated significant photoconductance in indium sulfide thin films prepared by thermal vacuum evaporation ofIn2$3 powders synthesized in-house by chemical precipitation ofInCl3 or In(CH3COO)3, and (NH4)2S or Na2S. The Delta G lambda/Gdark values have been as high as 0.1 in the initial unoptimized films. Excess sulfur (via a mixture of polysulfide and sulfide ions in the synthesis bath) appears to be important in achieving reproducible and large photoconductivities. In2S3 is particularly attractive as a lower toxicity alternative to CdS in optoelectronic applications such as photovoltaic and photoconductive cells.