Influence of the local absorber layer thickness on the performance of ZnO nanorod solar cells

The local absorber layer thickness ( d local ) of solar cells with extremely thin absorber was changed between 10 nm and 70 nm. As a model system, ZnO nanorod arrays (electron conductor) with fixed internal surface area coated with In 2 S 3 (absorber) and impregnated with CuSCN (transparent hole conductor) were applied. The performance of the small area solar cells depended critically on d local . The highest short circuit current density was reached for the lowest d local . In contrast, the highest open circuit voltage was obtained for the highest d local . A maximum energy conversion efficiency of 3.4% at AM1.5 was achieved. Limiting factors are discussed.(© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)