Enhancing the performance of CuO thin film in solar cell by introducing optimum amount of Ni doping

A low cost and facile air ambient spray deposition technique was used to fabricate Ni-doped CuO (CuO:Ni) thin films with varying the Nickel (Ni) content (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2.0 wt%). CuO:Ni at the nanoscale must have its properties optimized to have good performance as in solar cells. And for that variety of characterization techniques have been used to extensively examine the crystal structure, surface texture, electronic, and optical properties of spray-deposited thin films. The XRD analysis reveals the polycrystalline monoclinic structure for all fabricated samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images depicts gravel-like particles for CuO and cluster-like particles for CuO:Ni films. The optical band gap of the CuO:Ni thin films is obtained in the range of 1.45–2.1 eV with significant absorption coefficient (> 10⁵ cm⁻¹) and negligible transmittance within the visible region. The electrical resistivity reduces dramatically from 704.72 to 65.52 Ω·cm for 1.5 wt% Ni doping. All the fabricated thin layers exhibit p-type conductivity and the obtained highest conductivity is 0.0162 Scm⁻¹ for 1.5 wt% Ni doping. The obtained 1.5 wt% CuO:Ni could be an ideal choice for photovoltaic cells absorber layer as well as in optoelectronics applications.