ACTA

Photovoltaic Cell Based on n-ZnO Microrods and p-GaN Film

B. Turko^a, V. Vasil'ev^a, B. Sadovyi^{a, b}, V. Kapustianyk^a, Y. Eliyashevskyi^a, R. Serkiz^a
^aIvan Franko National University of Lviv, Dragomanova Str., 50, Lviv, 79005, Ukraine
^bInstitute of High Pressure Physics PAS, 29/37, Sokolowska Str., 01-142, Warsaw, Poland

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A photovoltaic cell based on p-GaN film/n-ZnO microrods quasi-array heterojunction was fabricated and investigated for the first time for harvesting energy from a near-ultraviolet source (395-400 nm). The source was a commercially available indoor light-emitting diode. According to the scanning electron microscopy data, the ZnO array consisted of tightly packed vertical microrods with a diameter of approximately 2-3 μm. The turn-on voltage of the heterojunction of ZnO/GaN (rods/film) was around 0.6 V. The diode-ideality factor was estimated to be of around 4. The current-voltage characteristic of the photovoltaic cell under near-ultraviolet illumination showed an open-circuit voltage of 0.26 V, a short-circuit current of 0.124 nA, and a fill factor of 39%, resulting in an overall efficiency of 1.4×10^-5%. These results may be useful in the engineering of electronic devices based on the materials with optical transparency.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.144.242
topics: zinc oxide, gallium nitride, microrods, heterojunction