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• ABA modification increased the optical band gap of NiO x from 3.65 eV to 3.71 eV. • The grain size of perovskite on ABA modified NiO x increased by over 28%. • The efficiency of the PSCs was enhanced to 19.1% via the modified NiO x. • After 6 days, the unpackaged PSCs decay to about 70 % of pristine efficiency. The quality of the interface between the nickel oxide (NiO x) and the perovskite contact is essential to the efficiency and stability of the device. How to effectively suppress the reaction at the interface between NiO x and perovskite is the key to improve the interface quality. Herein, a simple and scalable interface enhancement strategy for building efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using 4-aminobenzoic acid (ABA) molecules to modify the sputtered NiO x surface as the hole transport layers (HTLs). Meanwhile, ABA molecules not only reduce the defect density and improve the quality of perovskite films (PVK), but also improve the carrier extraction ability of NiO x and reduce interfacial non-radiative recombination. Eventually, the optimized inverted device efficiency is increased to 19.1%, and the device stability is significantly improved under unencapsulated atmospheric conditions. This provides a reference for the commercial development of PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NiOx is an ideal replacement material for organic hole transport layers, due to its chemical stability and low cost. However, the inherent insulating properties of NiOx films and the post-processing process of solution preparation have been limiting their application and development. Herein, high-quality AlyNi1-yOx hole transport layers were prepared by magnetron sputtering at room temperature without further processing. Simulation and experimental results showed that Al atoms enhance the concentration of holes in NiOx films, thus improving the electrical conductivity. In addition, the AlyNi1-yOx films exhibited match band alignment with perovskite films, enabling the improved charge transfer and exaction. Furthermore, the perovskite film quality was improved by the AlyNi1-yOx passivation. These factors resulted in an improvement in the power conversion efficiency of 5.4%, compared with undoped NiOx-based perovskite solar cells. This work provides a prospective reference for the high-throughput production of perovskite solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, ZnO/Ag(Cu doped)/ZnO and ZnO/(Cu doped) Ag/ZnO/SiO2 multilayer films are prepared on glass by a sputtering technique. The optical, structural, and morphological properties of the Ag-based multilayer structures are compared. According to the results of the transmittance curve, it is found that the Cu doping into Ag leads to a significant broadening of the transmittance spectrum of the multilayer. The performance of the multilayer largely depends on the deposition time of different films. After doping with copper, the average light transmittance of the multilayer film exceeds 81.2% from 380 to 1100 nm, and the average light transmittance exceeds 10.2% from 1100 to 2500 nm. When the SiO2 anti-reflection layers are introduced, the average light transmittance of the multilayer structure from 380 to 1100 nm exceeds 85.2%, and this value reaches 18.3% from 1100 to 2500 nm. In addition, a 6-inch ZnO/Ag(Cu doped)/ZnO/SiO2 multilayer is used as the cover layer of the silicon solar cell. After 2 h of sunlight exposure, the increase in working temperature is reduced by 12 °C while the open-circuit voltage reduction is reduced by 4.1% in comparison with that using standard glass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐generation power devices based on the radiative cooling effect have intense potential applications in the energy conversion field. A selective solar absorber is introduced into thermoelectric generator (TEG) devices based on radiative cooling emitters (RCEs). The self‐generation device can work continuously for 24 h, and the output power is greatly enhanced. The RCE is prepared as a polydimethylsiloxane–Al structure by a simple squeegee method. The solar selective absorber (SSA) of the W–Si–O laminated film is prepared by the magnetron sputtering method. Its working temperature can reach as high as 85 °C under AM1.5 sunlight. The calculation results prove that the selective solar absorber can achieve 1.55 times the net heating power of an ideal blackbody at the same working temperature of 85 °C. The assembled self‐generation power device achieves output powers of 695.1 and 5.23 mW m−2 on clear days and nights, respectively, as well as an output power of 7.64 mW m−2 even in the cloudy daytime. The result of theoretical calculation proves that the addition of SSA can greatly increase the temperature difference and the average working temperature, which improves the efficiency of the TEG and the output power of the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) solar cells occupy an important direction in the field of clean energy research due to their environmental friendliness, low cost, and industrial technology compatibility. The complex and variable usage environment also accelerates the development of flexible CZTS solar cells. However, the inferior flexibility of ITO films limited their development. ZnO/Ag/ZnO (ZAZ) films are potential choices for transparent conductive layers of CZTS solar cells due to their high transmittance, conductivity, and flexibility. To further enhance the photovoltaic performance and mechanical durability of ZAZ films and solar cells, Ag 2 O was introduced into ZAZ film by magnetron sputtering. An ultra-high average transmittance of 96.6% in 400–800 nm was achieved for ZnO/Ag-Ag 2 O/ZnO (ZAAZ) films at Ag 2 O sputtering power of 40 W, which was attributed to the fact that Ag 2 O effectively inhibited the growth of 3D islands of Ag film, and formed a more uniform Ag film. ZAAZ films offered a superior figure of merit value of 0.1041 Ω−1. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ZAAZ solar cells was 6.94%, higher than that of ZAZ solar cells (6.69%). Remarkably, the PCE of ZAAZ solar cells was 7.9% higher than that of ZAZ solar cells after 1000 bending cycles. Therefore, Therefore, this approach may provide a promising way to improve the photovoltaic performance and mechanical durability of flexible solar cells. • Ag 2 O was co-sputtered to increase Ag film continuity in ZnO/Ag/ZnO film. • A transmittance of 96.6% in ZnO/Ag-Ag 2 O/ZnO film was achieved by using Ag 2 O. • The ZAAZ film showed an ultra-low sheet resistance of 6.8 Ω·sq−1 at 40 W Ag 2 O power. • The power conversion efficiency of ZAAZ CSC was 0.25% higher than that of ZAZ CSC. • The Ag 2 O could also improve the mechanical durability of flexible ZAAZ CSC devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag has been incorporated into the CZTS film through post-doping by magnetron sputtering to decrease the Cu Zn anti-site defect. Efforts have been dedicated to optimize the Ag sputtering time and 60 s will be the best as surveyed from the SEM, XRD and Raman spectra. Then the broad-band self-driven heterostructure photodetector has been manufactured by combining the CZTS and inverted pyramid n-Si (IP n-Si). The device represents the first-rank property under the irradiation of 5 mW, 780 nm LED with 0 V bias with the responsivity and detectivity of 7.2 mA/W and 4.98 × 1010 Jones respectively. The device can persist excellent linearity when enduring a 40 mW-80 mW, 980 nm NIR laser with 0 V bias. The comprehensive performance becomes the best under the irradiation of a 50 mW laser. The responsivity and detectivity are 1.22 mA/W and 1.98 × 1010 Jones. The device can also work stably as the laser changes from 1 Hz to 15 kHz. The rise time and decay time are 93.3 μs and 141.0 μs respectively. These results open up an innovative application for CZTS to build a broad-band self-driven photodetector as a window-layer. Then we irradiate the device with a 980 nm infrared laser, the bias voltage is still 0 v, but the power of the irradiation is changed from 40 w to 80 w to study the stability of the device under different light intensities, and whether it can maintain good linear characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-layer films of ZnO and antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) have great potential for application in photoelectric devices by the integration of the ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of the ZnO layer and the near-infrared (NIR) blocking and conductivity induced by the ATO film. Thus the nanostructure of ATO film on the surface of the ZnO layer plays an important role in determining the photoelectric property of ZnO/ATO bilayer film. In this work, ATO films are deposited on the ZnO layer by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering method and the structures and photoelectric properties, particularly the electric properties of ATO films on the ZnO layer are investigated by the regulation of gas flow ratio of O2/Ar and the sputtering power. After optimization of the conditions depositing ATO films on the ZnO layer, which is at an O2/Ar ratio of 2:13 with sputtering power of 150 W, ATO film shows a good conductivity of about 213.4 Scm−1 after annealing in nitrogen at 500 °C for 1 h. The double-layer film of 500 nm ATO film on 200 nm thick ZnO layer presents good optical properties with a high UV-blocking of 96% (280–380 nm), a NIR-blocking of 80% (1100–2500 nm) and light transmission of about 70% (380–1100 nm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent conductivity oxide (TCO) films played an essential part in flexible CZTS solar cells (CSCs), which required excellent transparent conductivity and flexibility of TCO films. The inferior flexibility of ITO films, a commonly used material in TCO films, limited the development of flexible CSCs. In this paper, the ZnO/Cu/ZnO (ZCZ) TCO film with high transmittance and flexibility was prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering and applied as a transparent conductive layer for flexible CSCs to improve the flexibility of CSCs. The CSCs with ZnO/Cu(9 nm)/ZnO (ZC9Z) film exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.01% without bending, higher than that of CSCs with ITO film. The PCE ratio of CSCs with ZC9Z film to that of CSCs with ITO film was 5.83 and 9.09 after a bending diameter of 8 mm and 1000 cyclic bending, showing that CSCs with ZC9Z film were of excellent flexibility. [Display omitted] • ZCZ films on PET substrates exhibit high bending tolerance than ITO films. • ZCZ films' average transmittance and resistivity are 80.9% and 4.03 × 10−4 Ω·cm. • ZCZ films present excellent long-cycle stability. • ZC9Z CSCs present a PCE of 6.01%, which is almost 2% higher than that of ITO CSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, flexible, robustly adhesive, surface smooth and oxide-resistive AgNWs/AZO composite transparent conductive films (TCFs) were prepared by spin-coating solvothermal derived AgNWs followed by magnetron sputtering AZO protective layer, after which, annealing treatment at 200 ℃ for 20 min was adopted to further increase the performance of the composite film. The samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scan electron microscopy, scanning probe microscope, UV–Vis spectrophotometer and four point probe. The best result of AgNWs/AZO composite films was the one with a transmittance of 85% at 550 nm accompanied with a low sheet resistance of 19 Ω/□ by controlling the spin-coating times fixed at three. The figure of merit for the composite TCFs was 10.4, which was larger than the value of 8.8 for commercial ITO film. These amazing results would render the AgNWs /AZO composite TCFs an ideal candidate to replace conventional ITO for its potential application in flexible devices including OPV and OLED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sputtered nickel oxide (NiO x) as hole transport layer (HTL) could easily realize the large-area uniformity, as well as reduce the fabrication cost for metal-halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, nonradiative recombination losses at the interface between NiO x and perovskite (PVK) lead to an open-circuit voltage (V oc) deficit, which is an important limiting factor for the improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE). To address this situation, we report a strategy of improving the energy band matching at the NiO x /PVK interface by the simple thickness control of NiO x. Combined experimental and numerical simulation results indicate that the suitable thickness reduces the valence band barrier at NiO x and PVK interface and expedites the charge carrier collection. We achieved a PCE of 16.1% via an optimized NiO x thickness of PSCs, which is 2.2% and 1.7% absolute higher than that of 10 and 30 nm thickness of NiO x -based PSCs, respectively. Overall, these findings provide critical insights for improved hole transport at the interface between the NiO x and perovskite thin film, and the fabrication of highly efficient, robust, and large-area perovskite optoelectronic devices. • NiO x with large WF was prepared by magnetron sputtering as a hole transport layer. • The decrease of the NiO x films' roughness from 2.6 nm to 1.7 nm was observed. • The perovskite grain size increased by 58% compared with that of the reference. • An efficiency of 16.1% was achieved in the PSCs with an optimized NiO x thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on the Al2O3-coated and bare soda lime glass substrates, respectively. The properties of AZO films were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), Hall effect measurement and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrophotometer. The results of XRD measurement showed that all the AZO thin films had a preferentially oriented (002) peak and the intensity of (002) peak decreased with increase in the thickness of the Al2O3 buffer layer. The Hall measurement results showed that the conductivity of the AZO film with a 3nm Al2O3 buffer layer had a remarkable 41.3% increase when compared with that of the single AZO film. The figures of merit from optical transmittance and electrical conductivity for AZO films on the 3nm Al2O3-coated and bare glass substrates were 5466 and 3772Scm−1, respectively. All the results suggested that the use of an ultrathin Al2O3 buffer layer effectively improved the quality of AZO film on the glass substrate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: High quality polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin films without Si islands were prepared by using aluminum-induced crystallization on glass substrates. Al and amorphous silicon films were deposited by vacuum thermal evaporation and radio frequency magnetron sputtering, respectively. The samples were annealed at 500 °C for 7 h and then Al was removed by wet etching. Scanning electron microscopy shows that there are two layers in the thin films. After the upper layer was peeled off, the lower poly-Si thin film was found to be of high crystalline quality. It presented a Raman peak at 521 cm−1 with full width at a half maximum of 5.23 cm−1, which is similar to c-Si wafer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present work, ZnO was deposited on porous silicon substrates by sol-gel spin coating and rf magnetron sputtering. The porous silicon (PS) substrates were formed by electrochemical anodization on p-type (100) silicon wafer, and the starting material for ZnO was Zinc acetate dehydrate. Raman spectroscopy revealed the good quality of the porous silicon substrate. XRD analysis showed that highly (002) oriented ZnO thin films were formed. SEM, AFM and optical microscope have been used to understand the effects of the substrate on crystalline properties of the samples. The results indicated that the porous silicon substrate is beneficial to improve the crystalline quality in lattice mismatch heteroepitaxy due to its sponge-like structure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Films with ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) blocking properties can be used to protect against UV and heat radiation, thus prolonging the operating life of photovoltaic devices. Being wide band-gap semiconductors, ZnO films can absorb UV light and antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) films can play the role of defending against the NIR light with low electrical resistivities. In this work, the bilayer films of ZnO overlayed by ATO are sputtered by radio-frequent (r.f.) magnetron sputtering, and the growth rules of ATO on ZnO film are studied comprehensively by adjusting parameters including the sputtering power, pressure, gas flow rate ratio of O 2 /Ar and sputtering time. Eventually, a bilayer film with 200 nm thick ZnO layer and 400 nm thick ATO layer is fabricated and shows about 96% UV-blocking (from 280 nm to 380 nm), about 66% NIR-blocking (from 1100 nm to 2500 nm) while maintains about 80% light transmittance (from 380 nm to 1100 nm) after annealing in the nitrogen atmosphere at 500 °C for 1 h. This transparent bilayer film with UV and NIR double blocking functions can be potentially used in organic solar cells. • ZnO/ATO bilayers with UV and near IR double blocking functions were produced. • The bilayers of ZnO overlayed by ATO were deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering. • 96% UV-blocking (280–380 nm) was got from ZnO (200 nm)/ATO (400 nm) bilayer. • 66% NIR-blocking (1100–2500 nm) and 80% transmission (380–1100 nm) were also gained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, infrared filter property of aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) films prepared on glass substrates with different Ar flow rate by magnetron sputtering was studied. Then Cu was chosen to produce AZO/Cu/AZO sandwich films to further improve its infrared filter property for high transmittance within 380–1100 nm and low transmittance within 1100–2500 nm. The results showed that AZO film had a maximum transmittance over 85% in the region between 380 nm and 1100 nm and a lowest transmittance of 29.70% between 1100 nm and 2500 nm. While AZO/Cu/AZO sandwich film had a maximum transmittance of 80.95% between 380 nm and 1100 nm and its minimum transmittance was 14.61% between 1100 nm and 2500 nm. By using AZO/Cu/AZO sandwich glass as a cover of silicon solar cell, its working temperature showed a less increase of 10.61 °C after 3.5 h under an irradiation of 0.42 sun compared with that where a standard glass was used. This was because that Cu greatly increased the carrier concentration in the sandwich that led to a stronger carrier absorption in infrared wavelength region, so that a reduced thermal effect of the solar cell was obtained. • AZO/Cu/AZO sandwiches films with infrared filter property were prepared. • The effectiveness of the AZO/Cu/AZO sandwich was verified by the FDTD method. • The operating temperature of a solar cell can be reduced over 10°C by AZO/Cu/AZO. • The open circuit voltage of the cell was less reduced by 5.41% using the sandwich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a systematic study of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) films prepared on glass substrates via radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature. We consider the effects of the target power and film thickness on film structures, morphologies, and optical properties. X-ray diffraction indicates significant changes from an amorphous film to a paramelaconite film and then to a cuprite film as the sputtering power increases. Increasing the sputtering power also contributes to variation in the surface roughness of the film. The optical transmittances and bandgaps of the films change with the crystalline structure. The film with a cuprite structure obtained using 60 W of sputtering power exhibits the preferred cuprite orientation (111) with an average roughness of 2.6 nm. This corresponds to an average transmittance of 73% in the 500-1000 nm range and a bandgap of 2.48 eV. The optimized Cu2O thin film exhibits excellent UV- and blue-light shielding capabilities and high optical transparency in the visible-light region. This suggests possible applications in radiation-proof windows and glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]