Al-Doped ZnO Transparent Conducting Glass With an IGZO Buffer Layer for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

In this article, we employ the Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) onto the glass substrate for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To improve the electrical property of AZO, a film of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) is introduced as the buffer layer between the AZO and glass substrate. Experimental results show that the resistivity of the AZO glass is reduced with the introduction of the IGZO buffer layer, and the photovoltaic efficiency is enhanced when the AZO/IGZO TCO is used in DSSC. In addition, it is found that the photovoltaic efficiency of the DSSC with AZO/IGZO glass is also higher than those of the DSSCs with conventional fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) glasses. Therefore, the composite AZO/IGZO film is promising to replace the FTO and ITO films for DSSCs.