Enhanced optical and electrical properties of indium tin oxide for solar cell applications via post-microwave treatment

The method to enhance current density in silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells involves increasing surface roughness through higher temperature during indium thin oxide (ITO) deposition. Although cost-effective, the optoelectrical properties require further enhancement for solar cell application. Thus, post-heat treatment is necessary to improve their optoelectrical properties. Microwave treatment (MWT) emerges as a promising way to selectively generate heat in ITO briefly. Therefore, we propose a MWT process to enhance optoelectrical properties. After depositing ITO at 500 °C and then MWT, the average transmittance is over 98.7% in the visible range, with a sheet resistance of 81 Ω/□. Finally, the weighted reflectance was calculated using measured reflectance data to assess the applicability in solar cell applications. As a result, the calculation shows that a weighted reflectance value of 0.6% after MWT. These results indicate that MWT effectively enhances optoelectrical properties of ITO, which are essential for the development of solar cell applications.