Zinc oxide (ZnO) belongs to the class of transparent conducting oxides that can be used as transparent electrodes in electronic devices or heated windows. In this book the material properties of, the deposition technologies for, and applications of zinc oxide in thin film solar cells are described in a comprehensive manner. Structural, morphological, optical and electronic properties of ZnO are treated in this review.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) belongs to the class of transparent conducting oxides that can be used as transparent electrodes in electronic devices or heated windows. In this book the material properties of, the deposition technologies for, and applications of zinc oxide in thin film solar cells are described in a comprehensive manner. Structural, morphological, optical and electronic properties of ZnO are treated in this review.

Edited by well-known pioneers in the field, this handbook and ready reference provides a comprehensive overview of transparent conductive materials with a strong application focus. Following an introduction to the materials and recent developments, subsequent chapters discuss the synthesis and characterization as well as the deposition techniques that are commonly used for energy harvesting and light emitting applications. Finally, the book concludes with a look at future technological advances. All-encompassing and up-to-date, this interdisciplinary text runs the gamut from chemistry and materials science to engineering, from academia to industry, and from fundamental challenges to readily available applications.

This thesis presents selected methodologies developed in our laboratory for growing ZnO thin films by chemical bath deposition (CBD), as well as ZnO films applications for dye-sensitized solar cells. The following three broad topics are addressed in this manuscript. The first topic is an easy method to systematically control ZnO crystal size and shape thin film. With the increase of Rm, the molar ratio of Cd2+/Zn2+, ZnO crystals transformed from long-and-slim hexagonal rods to fat-and-short hexagonal pyramids, and then to twinning hexagonal dots as observed by SEM. The second topic presents a solution based approach to grow high density vertically-aligned ZnO rod arrays with multi-stage terrace structure (HDVAMT) and their enhanced DSSC efficiency. The third topic is the studies of RuN3 dye adsorption onto nanostructured ZnO films. The results reveal that more dye is adsorbed onto ZnO films and less dye aggregation occurs at 40oC than those at 25oC.

Transparent conductive oxides (TCO), such as LPCVD ZnO:B (low pressure chemical vapor deposited zinc oxide doped with boron), play a major role as contacts in thin film silicon photovoltaic solar cells. This document study the "LPCVD ZnO:B layers, from the deposition process to the final application" and focus especially on their electrical and optical properties. This work intended on understanding the physics of the LPCVD ZnO:B film properties in order to efficiently optimize its characteristics to obtain TCO films well suited for thin film solar cell applications. In particular, theoretical models that describe the optical and electrical properties of LPCVD ZnO:B films are determined and verified experimentally.

With an in-depth exploration of the following topics, this book covers the broad uses of zinc oxide within the fields of materials science and engineering:- Recent advances in bulk , thin film and nanowire growth of ZnO (including MBE, MOCVD and PLD), - The characterization of the resulting material (including the related ternary systems ZgMgO and ZnCdO), - Improvements in device processing modules (including ion implantation for doping and isolation ,Ohmic and Schottky contacts , wet and dry etching), - The role of impurities and defects on materials properties - Applications of ZnO in UV light emitters/detectors, gas, biological and chemical-sensing, transparent electronics, spintronics and thin film

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is an n-type semiconductor with versatile applications such as optical devices in ultraviolet region, piezoelectric transducers, transparent electrode for solar cells and gas sensors. This book "ZnO Thin Films: Properties, Performance and Applications" gives a deep insight in the intriguing science of zinc oxide thin films. It is devoted to cover the most recent advances and reviews the state of the art of ZnO thin films applications involving energy harvesting, microelectronics, magnetic devices, photocatalysis, photovoltaics, optics, thermoelectricity, piezoelectricity, electrochemistry, temperature sensing. It serves as a fundamental information source on the techniques and methodologies involved in zinc oxide thin films growth, characterization, post-deposition plasma treatments and device processing. This book will be invaluable to the experts to consolidate their knowledge and provide insight and inspiration to beginners wishing to learn about zinc oxide thin films.

Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCOs) are unusual materials as they have to possess a high electrical conductivity with good transparency in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. TCOs have many applica-tions such as electrical inter-connections for window electrodes in flat panel displays, electro-optical devices and solar cells. TCOs are also receiving much attention and recognition as they are promising candidate for optoelectronic application in the ultraviolet to visible range. Other important parameters that determine the usefulness of TCOs are environmental stability, process-ing compatibility with other device elements and production cost etc. Indium (In) doped tin oxide also known as ITO is used as TCO in industries. Now a days, TCOs have already been largely investigated. Therefore, in the recent years, this has stimulated the development of new TCO materials like doped ZnO."

This is the first text to cover all aspects of solution processed functional oxide thin-films. Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) comprises all solution based thin- film deposition techniques, which involve chemical reactions of precursors during the formation of the oxide films, i. e. sol-gel type routes, metallo-organic decomposition routes, hybrid routes, etc. While the development of sol-gel type processes for optical coatings on glass by silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide dates from the mid-20th century, the first CSD derived electronic oxide thin films, such as lead zirconate titanate, were prepared in the 1980’s. Since then CSD has emerged as a highly flexible and cost-effective technique for the fabrication of a very wide variety of functional oxide thin films. Application areas include, for example, integrated dielectric capacitors, ferroelectric random access memories, pyroelectric infrared detectors, piezoelectric micro-electromechanical systems, antireflective coatings, optical filters, conducting-, transparent conducting-, and superconducting layers, luminescent coatings, gas sensors, thin film solid-oxide fuel cells, and photoelectrocatalytic solar cells. In the appendix detailed “cooking recipes” for selected material systems are offered.