Performance improvement of TiO2/CuO by increasing oxygen flow rates and substrate temperature using DC reactive magnetron sputtering method

In the present study, TiO2/CuO solar cells have been successfully fabricated for the first time using DC reactive magnetron sputtering for application in PV devices. To improve the performance of TiO2 and CuO solar cells, we increased the oxygen flow rates and substrate temperature during the deposition of TiO2 and CuO thin films compared with our previous work. The structural features by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy spectrum(s) with the atomic percent were analyzed. Next, scanning electron microscopy images with cross-sections were compared. Finally, current–voltage characteristics (I-V) capacitance–voltage (C-V) were determined. The PV parameters, open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, and efficiency, were then analyzed and compared. We observed a maximum efficiency of 0.24 % and an open circuit voltage of 0.14 V. To the best of our knowledge, we attained the fourth highest efficiency reported to date. The C-V and I-V characteristics were compared with theoretical calculations obtained with the solar cell capacitance simulator, SCAPS, program.