Effects of adjusting nickel pulse count on NiOx films prepared by atomic layer deposition†

The paper describes the preparation of NiO_x films using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and analyzes their hole transport properties. During the ALD process, NiO_x films with varying properties were fabricated by adjusting the number of nickel pulses in the reaction. Various characterization techniques were employed to investigate the morphology, composition, optical, and electrical properties of the films prepared with different numbers of nickel pulses. The study reveals that as the number of Ni pulses increases, the content of Ni metal and Ni(OH)₂ in the NiO_x films changes, and post-annealing treatment can significantly enhance the performance of the NiO_x films. Finally, NiO_x was used as a hole transport layer to successfully fabricate silicon solar cells, resulting in an increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 17.89% to 18.89% compared to untreated cells.