Magnetron sputtering of highly transparent p-conductive NiO thin films

Abstract: P-type transparent conductors are needed for a wide range of applicationssuch as solar cells and electrochromic smart windows. Solar power is animportant form of energy in today’s society as the threat of global warmingpushes the world towards fossil free energy. Hence a lot of solar cell typeshave been developed, among them tandem cells which are to different typesof solar cells stacked on top of each other. If one of the cells is based ona perovskite, a transparent p-type thin film electrode is needed as a holeconductor and electron blocking layer between the two cells. Nickel oxide(NiO) is a good candidate for this application as it has desired propertiessuch as good hole conduction, a high band gap and a matching work functionto the perovskite. The transmittance of as deposited NiO films by reactivemagnetron sputtered is limited so post deposition annealing is used to increasethe transmittance. This is not possible in this solar cell application as parts ofthe solar cell stack is temperature sensitive.Electrochromic smart windows contain a layer that can change its opticalproperties with the application of a voltage. Such windows are used inbuildings to increase energy efficiency and they contain an electrochromicdevice where NiO is used as an electrode as it has electrochromic properties,but just like with the solar cells, the transmittance of NiO is limited. Thisstudy investigates whether it is possible to make as deposited NiO by reactivemagnetron sputtering transparent, eliminating the need for post depositionannealing. Such a deposition process was found using different sputtermachines with the process point on the edge between metal and oxide modein terms of oxygen flow. This resulted in highly transparent and highlyresistive NiO films with a much higher deposition rate than in oxide mode.