Abstract In this study characteristics of Al-doped ZnO thin film by HIPIMS (High power impulse sputtering) are discussed. Deposition speed of HIPIMS with conventional balanced magnetic field is measured at about 3 nm/min, which is 30% of that of conventional RF sputtering process with the same working pressure. To generate additional magnetic flux and increase sputtering speed, electromagnetic coil is mounted at the back side of target. Under unbalanced magnetic flux from electromagnet with 1.5A coil current, deposition speed of AZO thin film is increased from 3 nm/min to 4.4 nm/min. This new value originates from the decline of particles near target surface due to the local magnetic flux going toward substrate from electromagnet. AZO film sputtered by HIPIMS process shows very smooth and dense film surface for which surface roughness is measured from 0.4 nm to 1 nm. There are no voids or defects in morphology of AZO films with varying of magnetic field. When coil current is increased from 0A to 1A, transmittance of AZO thin film decreases from 80% to 77%. Specific resistance is measured at about 2.9×10-2Ω·cm. AZO film shows C-axis oriented structure and its grain size is calculated at about 5.3 nm, which is lower than grain size in conventional sputtering.

To fabricate TiO2 nanoparticle-based dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) at a low-temperature, DSSCs were fabricated using hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticles composites for the electron transport layer around a low-temperature (200˚C). ZnO nanoparticle with 20 nm and 60 nm diameter were used and Pt was deposited as a counter electrode on ITO/glass using an RF magnetron sputtering. We investigate the effect of ZnO nanoparticle concentration in hydropolymer and ZnO nanoparticle solution on the photoconversion performance of the low temperature fabricated (200˚C) DSSCs. Using cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,20 bipyridy1-4,40 dicarboxylato) ruthenium (II) bis-tetrabutylammonium (N719) dye as a sensitizer, the corresponding device performance and photo-physical characteristics are investigated through conventional physical characterization techniques. The effect of thickness of the ZnO photoelectrode and the morphology of the ZnO nanoparticles with the variations of hydropolymer to ZnO ratio on the photoconversion performance are also investigated. The morphology of the ZnO layer after sintering was examined using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs showed an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) value of about 7% higher than that of 20 nm ZnO nanoparticle DSSCs. The maximum parameters of the short circuit current density (Jsc), the open circuit potential (Voc), fill factor (ff), and efficiency (η) in the 60 nm ZnO nanoparticle-based DSSC devices were 4.93 mA/cm2, 0.56V, 0.40, and 1.12%, respectively.