Characterization of 2-(2,3-dihydro-1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-ylimino)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetonitrile and ZnO nano-crystallite structure thin films for application in solar cells

¹ Physics Department, Faculty of Science at Damietta, New Damietta 34517, Egypt
² Physics Department, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy 11757, Cairo, Egypt
³ Solid State Physics Department, Solid State Electronics, National Research Center, Dokki 12622, Cairo, Egypt

Corresponding author: hzeyada@gmail.com

Received: 21 March 2009
Accepted: 14 September 2009
Published online: 26 November 2009

Abstract

Hybrid (organic/inorganic) heterojunction device based on nano-crystallite structures of 2-(2, 3-dihydro-1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-ylimino)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetonitrile (DOPNA) and ZnO thin films has been fabricated. The ZnO powder is prepared by the hydrolysis of zinc chloride in the presence of triethanolamine, the ZnO film is prepared by using spin coating technique, whereas the DOPNA thin film is deposited from the powder by the thermal evaporation technique. The formed nano-crystallite structures and lattice parameters of DOPNA and ZnO films have been determined. The optical absorbance of DOPNA and ZnO films are measured and the types of transitions as well as the optical band gap of the films are evaluated. The current-voltage characteristics of ITO/ZnO/DOPNA/Au heterojunction diode in dark and under illumination conditions have been investigated. The capacitance-voltage characteristic showed that the formed junction is of abrupt nature and the built-in potential is estimated. The solar cell parameters have been determined as 0.37 V for open circuit voltage, 1.04 mA for short circuit current, 0.43 for fill factor and 1.56% for power conversion efficiency.