Search

Ultrathin crystalline Si wafers, which are more flexible than conventional ones, can apply to curved surfaces, enabling a wide range of applications such as building integrated photovoltaics, vehicle integrated photovoltaics and wearable devices. Thinner wafers require more effective light trapping; thus, surface texturing in microscale is a common approach to compensate for the reduced thickness by enhancing the light pathlength. Microscale textures, however, deteriorate the mechanical flexibility due to stress concentration in the valley of the micro-textures. In this study, we propose a laser-assisted nano-texturing process for enhanced flexibility of the ultrathin Si solar cells with a 50-µm thickness while maintaining light trapping performances. A nano-lens array was used to focus laser onto the Si wafers, inducing the formation of nanoparticle etch masks for nano-pyramid texturing in an alkaline solution. The origin of the enhanced flexibility of the nano-textured Si wafers was discussed by a micro-mechanics simulation study. We applied our nano-texturing technique to ultrathin Si based PERC cells and demonstrated the enhanced flexibility of the cells with a 26 mm critical bending radius. Also, we show that the nano-texture Si wafer provide a higher efficiency of 18.68%, whereas the micro-texture one exhibits 18.10%.

CdS has been known to be one of the best junction partners for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) in CIGS solar cells. However, the use of thick CdS buffer decreases the short-circuit current density of CIGS solar cells. There are two obstacles that limit the use of ultrathin CdS. The first is plasma damage to CIGS during the preparation of transparent conducting windows and the second is a low shunt resistance due to the direct contact between the window and CIGS via pinholes in the thin CdS buffer. In other words, to avoid plasma damage and shunt paths, we may have to use a CdS buffer that is thicker than necessary to form a high-quality CdS/CIGS junction. This work aims to determine how thin the CdS buffer can be employed without sacrificing device performance while also eliminating the above two obstacles. We investigate the effect of CdS thickness on the performance of CIGS solar cells with silver nanowire-based window layers, which can eliminate both obstacles. An approximately 13 nm thick CdS buffer allows us to achieve high short-circuit current density and fill factor values. To attain an even high open-circuit voltage, an additional CdS buffer with a thickness of 13 nm is needed. The data from this study imply that an approximately 26 nm thick CdS buffer is sufficient to form a high-quality CdS/CIGS junction.

Optimally designed Si nanostructures can serve as effective light trapping structures for flexible crystalline ultrathin Si solar cells. In this study, we develop a unique quasi-hexagonal inverted nano-pyramid in a hexagonal array, fabricated by a combined process of nanosphere lithography and wet etching. Self-assembled silica nanoparticles were deposited on Si wafers by spin coating, followed by deposition of triangular metal nanodisks in a hexagonal array. The metal nanodisks were used as a wet etch mask in an alkaline solution to create the quasi-hexagonal Si nanostructures. We investigated a temporal evolution of the Si nanostructures with increasing the etch time to optimize optical performances. The newly developed nanostructures take a quasi-hexagonal inverted pyramid, which provides geometrically high compatibility with the self-assembled monolayers in a hexagonal array. We incorporated these quasi-hexagonal nanostructures to the flexible crystalline ultrathin Si solar cells, and the novel nanostructures exhibited optical performances comparable to conventional micro-pyramid textures while showing the enhanced mechanical flexibility of the ultrathin Si-based solar cells.

The effect of the temperature ramping rate of vapor transport deposition (VTD) on the morphology, crystallinity and orientation of SnS-absorber layers and their impact on SnS/CdS heterojunction thi...

The highest efficiency of 4.225% for vapor-transport-deposited (VTD) SnS absorber/CdS heterojunction solar cells with good long-term stability over two years is reported. These improved characteristics are attributed to the reduction in interface defects of the heterojunction, which can occur either during the deposition of transparent electrodes or direct annealing of the SnS/CdS heterojunction at 300 °C. The enhanced heterojunction interface quality is supported by the substantially reduced dark saturation current density and shunt conductance of the fabricated devices measured under dark conditions. Although the SnS/CdS device exhibits efficiency over 4%, significant short-circuit current loss mainly due to recombination was revealed by quantum efficiency and optical analysis. Admittance analysis shows the presence of numerous defect densities of Sn and S vacancies (>1017 cm−3) in the VTD-grown SnS absorber. Minimizing bulk and interface defect densities of SnS absorbers will be a key issue in achieving high efficiency (>5%) of SnS-based thin-film solar cells.

We report high efficiency cell processing technologies for the ultra-thin Si solar cells based on crystalline Si thin foils (below a 50 µm thickness) produced by the proton implant exfoliation (PIE) technique. Shallow textures of submicrometer scale is essential for effective light trapping in crystalline Si thin foil based solar cells. In this study, we report the fabrication process of random Si nanohole arrays of ellipsoids by a facile way using low melting point metal nanoparticles of indium which were vacuum-deposited and dewetted spontaneously at room temperature. Combination of dry and wet etch processes with indium nanoparticles as etch masks enables the fabrication of random Si nanohole arrays of an ellipsoidal shape. The optimized etching processes led to effective light trapping nanostructures comparable to conventional micro-pyramids. We also developed the laser fired contact (LFC) process especially suitable for crystalline Si thin foil based PERC solar cells. The laser processing parameters were optimized to obtain a shallow LFC contact in conjunction with a low contact resistance. Lastly, we applied the random Si nanohole arrays and the LFC process to the crystalline Si thin foils (a 48 µm thickness) produced by the PIE technique and achieved the best efficiency of 17.1% while the planar PERC solar cell without the Si nanohole arrays exhibit 15.6%. Also, we demonstrate the ultra-thin wafer is bendable to have a 16 mm critical bending radius.

This work is dedicated to the study of electronic-beam (e-beam) evaporated titanium oxide (TiOx) contact for polycrystalline silicon hetero-junction solar cells. A TiOx material obtained by e-beam evaporation method is suggested as a possible alternative to the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. The purpose is to achieve corresponding passivation efficiency between e-beam evaporation of TiOx and the ALD method. However, the TiOx in question achieved a relatively low passivation performance of Seff = 113 cm-1 in comparison to the reported ALD results. Nonetheless, as e-beam evaporation is well-established and an environmentally friendly deposition technology, e-beam evaporated TiOx passivation layer has potential for improvement. What is clearly demonstrated in our work is how such an improvement in contact resistance dropped from >55 Ω/cm2 to 2.29 Ω/cm2. Indeed, our study established a correlation between the main process parameters of e-beam evaporation and their influence on the quality of electron selective TiOx layer. Moreover, we reveal a possible scenario for the implementation of e-beam evaporated Titanium oxide as electron selective contact for asymmetrical hetero-junction solar cells.

We demonstrate the ability to fabricate high-quality nanoscale electrical contact between silver nanowires (AgNWs) and underlying semiconducting layers in chalcogenide thin film solar cells. AgNW electrodes have attracted many interests due to their ability for low temperature solution processing. However, they have a drawback that the interfacial defects can be generated between AgNWs and underlying rugged semiconductor layers making it difficult to form high-quality junction. To enhance the junction properties, conducting matrix layers have been adapted. Yet, the issues regarding the AgNW/semiconductor junction have not been fully resolved. We developed a facile method to form robust nanoscale contact between AgNWs and semiconducting thin films to achieve high performance chalcogenide thin film solar cells. The method is to deposit an ultra-thin semiconductor layer on devices using aqueous chemical bath deposition. The chemical bath deposition has capability to effectively fill even nanoscale gap and to form chemically stable bonds as well as an intimate junction. As a proof of concept, a CdS layer (~ 10 nm) was deposited using the chemical bath deposition on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells with a structure of AgNW/CdS/CIGS/Mo/Glass. We also identified that the key factor governing the current-voltage characteristic is the electrical contact between the AgNW electrode and the CdS buffer layer in CIGS thin film solar cells. The power conversion efficiency of the CIGS cell was dramatically improved from 4.9% to 14.2% owing to high-quality AgNW-CdS electrical contact produced by chemical bath deposition of the additional CdS layer as thin as 10 nm.

The successful use of Al-/Ga-doped ZnO (AGZO) thin films as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer of a Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) thin film solar cell is demonstrated. The AGZO thin films were prepared by radio frequency (RF) sputtering. The structural, crystallographic, electrical, and optical properties of the AGZO thin films were systematically investigated. The photovoltaic properties of CZTSSe thin film solar cells incorporating the AGZO-based TCO layer were also reported. It has been found that the RF power and substrate temperature of the AGZO thin film are important factors determining the electrical, optical, and structural properties. The optimization process involving the RF power and the substrate temperature leads to good electrical and optical transmittance of the AGZO thin films. Finally, the CZTSSe solar cell with the AGZO TCO layer demonstrated a high conversion efficiency of 9.68%, which is higher than that of the conventional AZO counterpart by 12%.

We quantitatively and analytically investigate the properties of buffer/window junctions and their effects on the energy band alignment and the current-voltage characteristics of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells with solution processed silver nanowire (AgNW) composite window layers. AgNWs are generally embedded in a moderately conductive matrix layer to ensure lateral collection efficiency of charge carriers photogenerated in the lateral gaps present between AgNWs. Studies on the junctions between a buffer and AgNW-composite window layers and their effects on the performances of CIGS thin film solar cells have seldom been addressed. Here, we show that solution processed AgNW-composite window layers could induce defect states at the buffer/window interface, resulting in poor energy band alignment impeding carrier transport in the solar cells. On the basis of our analysis, we suggest an analytical expression of nmatrixDi2≥3.46×10−5e cm to avoid losses in the power conversion efficiency of the solar cells. nmatrix is the carrier concentration in a matrix layer embedding AgNWs, Di is the negative defect density at the buffer/window interface, and e is the relative dielectric constant of the matrix layer embedding AgNWs.

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have demonstrated high optical and electrical properties, even better than those of indium tin oxide thin films, and are expected to be a next-generation transparent conducting electrode (TCE). Enhanced electrical and optical properties are achieved when the diameter of the AgNWs in the network is fairly small, that is, typically less than 30 nm. However, when AgNWs with such small diameters are used in the network, stability issues arise. One method to resolve the stability issues is to increase the diameter of the AgNWs, but the use of AgNWs with large diameters has the disadvantage of causing a rough surface morphology. In this work, we resolve all of the aforementioned issues with AgNW TCEs by the electrodeposition of Ag onto as-spin-coated thin AgNW TCEs. The electrodeposition of Ag offers many advantages, including the precise adjustment of the AgNW diameter and wire-to-wire welding to improve the junction conductance while minimizing the increase in protrusion height because of the overlap of AgNWs upon increasing the diameter. In addition, Ag electrodeposition on AgNW TCEs can provide higher conductance than that of as-spin-coated AgNW TCEs at the same transparency because of the reduced junction resistance, which generates a superior figure of merit. We applied the electrodeposited (ED) AgNW network to a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cell and compared the device performance to a device with a standard sputtered transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The cell fabricated by the electrodeposition method showed nearly equal performance to that of a cell with the sputtered TCO. We expect that ED AgNW networks can be used as high-performance and robust TCEs for various optoelectronic applications.

We report a fuel-dependent reactor electron antineutrino ($\overline{\nu}_e$) yield using six 2.8 GW$_{\text{th}}$ reactors in the Hanbit nuclear power plant complex, Yonggwang, Korea. The analysis uses $850\,666$ $\overline{\nu}_e$ candidate events with a background fraction of 2.0 % acquired through inverse beta decay (IBD) interactions in the near detector for 1807.9 live days from August 2011 to February 2018. Based on multiple fuel cycles, we observe a fuel $^{235}$U dependent variation of measured IBD yields with a slope of $(1.51 \pm 0.23) \times 10^{-43} $cm$^2$/fission and measure a total average IBD yield of $(5.84 \pm 0.13) \times 10^{-43} $cm$^2$/fission. The hypothesis of no fuel-dependent IBD yield is ruled out at 6.6 $\sigma$. The observed IBD yield variation over $^{235}$U isotope fraction does not show significant deviation from the Huber-Mueller (HM) prediction at 1.3 $\sigma$. The measured fuel-dependent variation determines IBD yields of $(6.15 \pm 0.19) \times 10^{-43} $cm$^2$/fission and $(4.18\pm 0.26) \times 10^{-43} $cm$^2$/fission for two dominant fuel isotopes $^{235}$U and $^{239}$Pu, respectively. The measured IBD yield per $^{235}$U fission shows the largest deficit relative to the HM prediction. Reevaluation of the $^{235}$U IBD yield per fission may mostly solve the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly (RAA) while $^{239}$Pu is not completely ruled out as a possible contributor of the anomaly. We also report a 2.9 $\sigma$ correlation between the fractional change of the 5 MeV excess and the reactor fuel isotope fraction of $^{235}$U., Comment: 6 pages and 5 figures, v4 note: (1) data files for figure 1, figure 2, figure 5 are included for arXiv users (2) minor modifications in abstract and main text for clarification

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are becoming a desirable alternative to metal-based QDs due to their high biocompatibility, low toxicity, ease of preparation, and unique photophysical properties. In the present study, a simple microwave-assisted synthesis using a domestic oven has been adopted to produce multifunctional CQDs from the ethlyenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 4, 7, 10-trioxa-1, 13-tridecanediamine (TTDDA) monomers. The molecular surface of the prepared CQDs is composed of hyperbranched polyamides obtained from the polymerization reaction of both EDTA and TTDDA. The controlled functionalities and chemical structures of the molecular surface of CQDs are attained by varying the initial feed ratio of EDTA and TTDDA from 1:1 to 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5, and 3:1. The T-richCD3 (EDTA: TTDDA = 1:4) with highest mass yield of 25 wt% exhibited five-folds higher photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) (53.3%) compared to E-richCD1 (EDTA: TTDDA = 3:1). All synthesized CQDs revealed good sensitivity and selectivity to a Cu2+ ion that is prone to cause different neurodegenerative diseases and obstruct many biological activities, while the sensitivity increased with the decrease in EDTA to TTDDA ratio. The zebrafish model has been used to demonstrate the toxicity, adverse effects, transport, and biocompatibility of CQDs. At higher concentrations (1.0 mg/mL), the T-richCDs exhibited superior cell viability than the E-richCDs for Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) and human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 (MDAMB) cells. Because of the excellent down conversion fluorescence ability, T-richCD3 were employed as luminescent down-shifting (LDS) layer in CuInSe2 solar cell to enhance its performance.

We demonstrate semi-transparent inverted planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) for monolithic tandem construction with an electrodeposited CuInSe2 (CISe) solar cell. To eliminate the severe degradation of perovskite/PCBM layers during a transparent conducting oxide sputtering process, a thin ZnO nanoparticle (NP) layer is introduced onto the electron-extracting PCBM layer by a simple solution process without a post-annealing step. It is found that a thin ZnO-NP layer with an optimal thickness facilitates the electron transfer from PCBM to the Ag back contact in opaque devices while also helping to protect the underlying layers from plasma-induced damage in semi-transparent devices. As a result, semi-transparent PSC devices with an inverted architecture having a sputtered Al-doped ZnO top electrode are realized with power conversion efficiencies over 10%. In addition, monolithically integrated, two-terminal tandem devices composed of solution-processed CISe/perovskite are successfully fabricated, demonstrating an efficiency of 11% with a negligible degree of hysteresis.

We report a highly efficient p–i–n type planar perovskite solar cell with a hybrid PEDOT/NiOx hole-extraction layer. It has been found that the perovskite solar cell with a NiOx thin film as a hole-extraction layer generally exhibits lower fill factor compared to the conventionally used PEDOT:PSS thin film, whereas it shows higher photocurrent and photovoltage. The fill factor of the NiOx-based perovskite solar cell can be significantly improved by treating the NiOx surface with a dilute PEDOT solution. The photoluminescence quenching study and impedance spectroscopic (IS) analysis have revealed that the hole injection at the perovskite/NiOx interface is significantly facilitated with the PEDOT treatment, which should lead to the increased fill factor. As a result, the p–i–n type planar perovskite solar cell with the new hybrid hole-extraction layer exhibits a high conversion efficiency of 15.1% without the hysteresis effect.

Noble metal-free mesoscopic perovskite solar cell based on low-cost molybdenum (Mo) cathode has been developed for the first time. By optimizing the thickness of Mo electrode and combination with high quality perovskite layer, the Mo cathode-based perovskite solar cell exhibited a best power conversion efficiency as high as 15.06% with invariance of current density–voltage curves at different scan rates and very small hysteresis according to scan direction. In addition to photovoltaic performances, importance of mechanical durability of a cathode material for perovskite solar cell was highlighted and results from nano-indentation and scratch test indicated that Mo electrode has superior resistance and restoration capability against external scratch or deformation compared to Au electrode. The Mo cathode-based perovskite solar cells have great potential for realizing low cost and high performance as well as mechanical durability.

Highly efficient planar perovskite optoelectronic devices are realized by amine-based solvent treatment on compact TiO2 and by optimizing the morphology of the perovskite layers. Amine-based solvent treatment between the TiO2 and the perovskite layers enhances electron injection and extraction and reduces the recombination of photogenerated charges at the interface.

The fused dithieno[2,3- d :2′,3′- d ′]benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]dithiophene (DTBDT) structure was coupled with diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) moieties to generate highly planar bis(2,5-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)-2,5-dihydropyrrolo[3,4- c ]pyrrole-1,4-dione)dithieno[2,3- d :2′,3′- d ′]benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]dithiophene (DTBDTDPP-EH) and bis(2,5-bis(2-butyloctyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)-2,5-dihydropyrrolo[3,4- c ]pyrrole-1,4-dione)dithieno[2,3- d :2′,3′- d ′]benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b ′]dithiophene (DTBDTDPP-BO) molecules, where the EH and BO stands for 2-ethylhexyl and 2-butyloctyl groups respectively. The morphology of the DTBDTDPP-EH alone or DTBDTDPP-EH:[6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) blend film was controlled using post-thermal annealing at 130 °C or addition of 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) additives. The DIO-additive treatment was more effective than thermal annealing at increasing crystallinity; the DIO-additives promoted the formation of nanoscopically well-connected molecular crystalline domains in the blend films. This observation well explained the ordering of the photovoltaic properties of DTBDTDPP-EH:PCBM devices: from worst to best, as-cast, thermally treated, and DIO-treated photoactive films. The DTBDTDPP-BO:PCBM device followed the similar trend with lower performances due to the presence of irregularly overgrown domains. Overall, we demonstrate that it is critical to optimize nanoscale film morphologies by engineering alkyl chains and selecting an appropriate processing method.

To achieve commercialization and widespread application of next-generation photovoltaics, it is important to develop flexible and cost-effective devices. Given this, the elimination of expensive transparent conducting oxides (TCO) and replacement of conventional glass substrates with flexible plastic substrates presents a viable strategy to realize extremely low-cost photovoltaics with a potentially wide applicability. To this end, we report a completely TCO-free and flexible dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabricated on a plastic substrate using a unique transfer method and back-contact architecture. By adopting unique transfer techniques, the working and counter electrodes were fabricated by transferring high-temperature-annealed TiO2 and Pt/carbon films, respectively, onto flexible plastic substrates without any exfoliation. The fabricated working electrode with the conventional counter electrode exhibited a record efficiency for flexible DSSCs of 8.10%, despite its TCO-free structure. In addition, the completely TCO-free and flexible DSSC exhibited a remarkable efficiency of 7.27%. Furthermore, by using an organic hole-transporting material (spiro-MeOTAD) with the same transfer method, solid-state flexible TCO-free DSSCs were also successfully fabricated, yielding a promising efficiency of 3.36%.

We present controls of nanomorphology of polymer:fullerene BHJ films via synthesis of a series of push–pull-type copolymers with various molar percentages of side chains terminated with o-dichlorobenzyl (DCBZ) groups. As the molar percentage of the DCBZ-containing repeat units increases, the miscibility of the polymers in the series with PC71BM increases with respect to that of the polymer (PTBBO) that does not contain DCBZ. In the optimal film morphology, which consists of a polymer containing 25 mol % DCBZ-terminated side chains in the electron-pull unit (PTBDCB25), the polymer/PC71BM interface area is sufficiently large for efficient charge separation and percolated pathways is present for efficient charge carrier transport. In contrast, the BHJ film prepared from PTBBO has smaller interfaces and larger PC71BM aggregates. Furthermore, the intermolecular interaction between PC71BM and DCBZ induced changes in the PC71BM’s electronic structure at the polymer:PC71BM interface, resulting in an increase of t...

This paper aims to demonstrate the importance of the precursor film density during the development of the microstructure and photovoltaic properties of CuInSe2 (CISe) thin films prepared from nanoparticulate precursors and to provide a simple but effective means to improve the density. In order to improve the packing density of a Cu–In alloy nanocrystalline layer deposited by a doctor-blade method, a mild, wet, ball-milling technique is applied to colloidal ink without the use of organic additives or mechanical pressing. The focused ion beam milled cross-sections clearly show that the relative density of the precursor layers increases with an increase in the milling duration. The CISe thin films obtained by annealing the intermetallic layers with a relative density of 0.78 exhibit extremely low porosity on the well-faceted surface, a thicker top layer with large grains in a typical double-layered structure, a uniform and planar surface morphology, and a thinner MoSe2 layer. The transmission electron microscopy analysis also reveals that the nanocrystals in the bottom layer exist in the chalcopyrite CISe phase, forming a well-connected mesoporous network. As a result, the PV performance of low-bandgap (1.0 eV) CISe solar cells is greatly improved, rendering a power conversion efficiency as high as 9.32%. Changes in the PV parameters induced by the increase in the relative density of the precursor layer are discussed in conjunction with the improved crystalline quality and the consequent improvements in diode characteristics, such as the series resistance, shunt conductance, and recombination current.

The olivine Fe2GeS4 compound has attracted much attention as a thermodynamically stable derivative of pyrite FeS2, which has been studied extensively as an earth-abundant light-absorbing candidate material. Nevertheless, reports on nanocrystalline Fe2GeS4 and its optoelectronic properties are limited. Herein, Fe2GeS4 nanocrystals are synthesized via a solvent-free mechanochemical process. This process not only reduces the synthesis time, but also avoids the use of hazardous solvents, thereby mitigating environmental concerns. The crystallinity of the synthesized nanocrystals is significantly enhanced by a post-heat treatment in a sulfur-containing atmosphere, showing no phase decomposition. Lattice-resolved micrographs reveal that the post-annealed nanocrystals have a hexagonal-faceted platelet structure with (002) base planes. The oxide layer near the surface region is removed by the post-annealing process, most likely due to the replacement of oxygen with sulfur in the controlled atmosphere. The post-annealed Fe2GeS4 nanocrystals clearly exhibit an optical band gap of 1.43 eV and near-band-edge photoluminescent emission at 1.41 eV. This is the first experimental demonstration of the Fe2GeS4 nanocrystals having optoelectronic properties that are suitable for solar applications.

Preparation of well-interconnected TiO2 electrodes at low temperature is critical for the fabrication of highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) on plastic substrates. Herein we explore a synergistic approach using a combination of chemical and physical sintering. We formulate a binder-free TiO2 paste based on “nanoglue” as the chemical sintering agent, and use it to construct a photoelectrode on plastic by low-temperature physical compression to further improve the connectivity of TiO2 films. We systematically investigated the factors affecting the photovoltaic performance and found the conditions to achieve electron diffusion lengths as long as 25 mm and charge collection efficiencies as high as 95%, as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements indicate. We apply this approach to obtain a DSC deposited on plastic displaying 6.4% power conversion efficiency based on commercial P25 titania particles

Kesterite Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) thin films prepared by the selenization of mechanochemically synthe- sized Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystal films are systematically investigated as a function of the annealing time in terms of the phase purity, microstructure, composition, and device characteristics. It is shown that selenization for an extended time does not cause a noticeable amount of Sn loss or segregation of Zn-rich layers. Thus, the prolonged annealing leads to improvements (reduction) in the shunt conductance, reverse saturation current, and diode ideality factor. However, it also leads to a deterioration of the series resistance, of which influence turned out to overwhelm all of the aforementioned positive effects on the device performance. As a consequence, the CZTSe solar cell exhibits its highest efficiency (5.43%) at the shortest annealing time (10 min). Impedance spectroscopy is demonstrated to be of good use in detecting the change in the back contact of CZTSe solar cells during annealing. The impedance spectra of the CZTSe solar cells are analyzed in association with the microstructures of the back-contact electrodes, demonstrating that the increase in the series resistance is attributed to the formation of the resistive MoSe2 layer.

We synthesized a series of push–pull-type copolymers by copolymerizing an electron-deficient diketopyrrolopyrrole with three electron-donating benzodithiophene (BDT) moieties. PDPPDTT, which incorporated a dithienothiophene (DTT), showed a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.11% compared to 3.31% for the BDT-based polymer (PDPPBDT). PDPPDTBDT, which incorporated a dithienobenzodithiophene (DTBDT), also exhibited superior performance, with a PCE of 4.75% although this value was lower than that obtained for PDPPDTT. The presence of the DTT unit in the polymer backbone lowered the energy bandgap of the polymer and induced an optimal morphology in the polymer:PC71BM blend film, resulting in higher charge carrier generation. Furthermore, the effectively delocalized frontier orbitals of PDPPDTT enhanced intermolecular interactions between the polymer chains by favoring effective π–π stacking, which facilitated charge carrier transport. By contrast, PDPPDTBDT unexpectedly showed a low-crystallinity thi...

We demonstrated the effect of the field dependency of charge carrier mobility on roll-off characteristic of current efficiency. Field dependent factor in Poole-Frenkel model is controlled to describe charge balance of electron and hole concentration at high field. It is well established that roll-off characteristic is dependent upon mobility match which results in charge balance in EML. We exhibited the improvement of the roll-off characteristic of current efficiency and explained how charge balance is induced through this description.

In this study, we demonstrated the effective morphological control of polymer:fullerene blends using three separate solvent systems: chloroform (CF), CF:1,8-diiodooctane (DIO), and CF:o-dichlorobenzene (ODCB). The polymer:fullerene blends are composed of two diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based polymers of P(DPP-alt-QT) and P(DPP-alt-DTBSe) and a fullerene derivative of [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM), i.e., P(DPP-alt-QT):PC71BM or P(DPP-alt-DTBSe):PC71BM. The CF:ODCB binary solvent exhibited the best photovoltaic performance among the three solvent systems for both polymer-based devices, although the CF:DIO also exhibited an improved performance compared to the CF system. By examining film morphology of the blend films, we found that the CF:ODCB enabled the most optimal nanoscale phase separation and the morphological features were strongly affected by the solubility of each material in the high boiling-point (BP) solvent. Specifically, the polymers have limited but slightly higher solubility in ODCB than in DIO, while the PC71BM molecules have a high solubility in both DIO and ODCB. Therefore, this work highlights that the optimally asymmetric solubility of each photoactive component in the high BP solvent is a critical factor to form the nanoscale, bicontinuous domains in the blend films and thereby to determine the performance of photovoltaic devices.

We characterized the electrical properties of a field-effect transistor (FET) and a nonvolatile memory device based on a solution-processable low bandgap small molecule, Si1TDPP-EE-C6. The small molecule consisted of electron-rich thiophene-dithienosilole-thiophene (Si1T) units and electron-deficient diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) units. The as-spun Si1TDPP-EE-C6 FET device exhibited ambipolar transport properties with a hole mobility of 7.3×10(-5) cm2/(Vs) and an electron mobility of 1.6×10(-5) cm2/(Vs). Thermal annealing at 110 °C led to a significant increase in carrier mobility, with hole and electron mobilities of 3.7×10(-3) and 5.1×10(-4) cm2/(Vs), respectively. This improvement is strongly correlated with the increased film crystallinity and reduced π-π intermolecular stacking distance upon thermal annealing, revealed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. In addition, nonvolatile memory devices based on Si1TDPP-EE-C6 were successfully fabricated by incorporating Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) as charge trapping sites at the interface between the silicon oxide (SiO2) and cross-linked poly(4-vinylphenol) (cPVP) dielectrics. The device exhibited reliable nonvolatile memory characteristics, including a wide memory window of 98 V, a high on/off-current ratio of 1×10(3), and good electrical reliability. Overall, we demonstrate that donor-acceptor-type small molecules are a potentially important class of materials for ambipolar FETs and nonvolatile memory applications.

Highly efficient copper-zinc-tin-selenide (Cu2ZnSnSe4 ; CZTSe) thin-film solar cells are prepared via the electrodepostion technique. A metallic alloy precursor (CZT) film with a Cu-poor, Zn-rich composition is directly deposited from a single aqueous bath under a constant current, and the precursor film is converted to CZTSe by annealing under a Se atmosphere at temperatures ranging from 400 °C to 600 °C. The crystallization of CZTSe starts at 400 °C and is completed at 500 °C, while crystal growth continues at higher temperatures. Owing to compromises between enhanced crystallinity and poor physical properties, CZTSe thin films annealed at 550 °C exhibit the best and most-stable device performances, reaching up to 8.0 % active efficiency; among the highest efficiencies for CZTSe thin-film solar cells prepared by electrodeposition. Further analysis of the electronic properties and a comparison with another state-of-the-art device prepared from a hydrazine-based solution, suggests that the conversion efficiency can be further improved by optimizing parameters such as film thickness, antireflection coating, MoSe2 formation, and p-n junction properties.

We synthesized four polymers (pT3DPP-HD, pT3DPP-OD, pT2TTDPP-HD, and pT2TTDPP-OD) and characterized their photovoltaic properties as a function of the backbone planarity, alkyl side chain length, and film morphology. The polymers were donor–acceptor type low-band-gap (1.2–1.3 eV) polymers employing terthiophene (T3) or thiophene–thieno[3,2-b]thiophene–thiophene (T2TT) as the donor and 2,5-bis(2-hexyldecyl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-(2H,5H)-dione (DPP-HD) or 2,5-bis(2-octyldodecyl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-(2H,5H)-dione (DPP-OD) as the acceptor. The T2TT moiety in the polymer backbone is more planar than the T3; the OD moiety as the alkyl side chain ensured a higher solubility than the HD moiety. Polymer solar cells (PSCs) were fabricated, and their properties were characterized. The photoactive layer consisted of one of the four polymers and one of the fullerene derivatives (PC70BM or PC60BM). For a given fullerene derivative, the PCEs prepared with each of the four polymers were ordered according to pT3DP...

Low bandgap polymers with dithienylquinoxaline moieties based on 6H-phenanthro[1,10,9,8-cdefg]carbazole were synthesized via the Suzuki coupling reaction. Alkoxy groups were substituted at two different positions on the phenyl groups of the quinoxaline units of these polymers: in the para-position (PPQP) and in the meta-position (PPQM). The two polymers showed similar physical properties: broad absorption in the range of 400–700 nm, optical bandgaps of ∼1.8 eV, and the appropriate frontier orbital energy levels for efficient charge transfer/separation at polymer/PC71BM interfaces. However, the PPQM solar cell achieved a higher PCE due to its higher Jsc. Our investigation of the morphologies of the polymer:PC71BM blend films and theoretical calculations of the molecular conformations of the polymer chains showed that the polymer with the meta-positioned alkoxy group has better miscibility with PC71BM than the polymer with the para-positioned alkoxy group because the dihedral angle of its phenyl group with respect to the quinoxaline unit is higher. This higher miscibility resulted in a polymer:PC71BM blend film with a better morphology and thus in a higher PCE. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 796–803

We demonstrate here that an improvement in the green density leads to a great enhancement in the photovoltaic performance of CuInSe2 (CISe) solar cells fabricated with Cu-In nanoparticle precursor films via colloidal solution deposition. Cold-isostatic pressing (CIP) increases the precursor film density by ca. 20%, which results in an appreciable improvement in the microstructural features of the sintered CISe film in terms of a lower porosity, a more uniform surface morphology, and a thinner MoSe2 layer. The low-band-gap (1.0 eV) CISe solar cells with the CIP-treated films exhibit greatly enhanced open-circuit voltage (V(OC), typically from 0.265 to 0.413 V) and fill factor (FF, typically from 0.34 to 0.55), compared to the control devices. As a consequence, an almost 3-fold increase in the average efficiency, from 3.0 to 8.2% (with the highest value of 9.02%), is realized. Diode analysis reveals that the enhanced V(OC) and FF are essentially attributed to the reduced reverse saturation current density and diode ideality factor. This is associated with suppressed recombination, likely due to the reduction in recombination sites at grain/air surfaces, intergranular interfaces, and defective CISe/CdS junctions. From the temperature dependences of V(OC), it is revealed that CIP-treated devices suffer less from interface recombination.

We fabricated metallic Cu–Zn–Sn (CZT) precursor thin films via electrochemical deposition from aqueous metal salt solution on Mo-coated soda-lime glass substrates, and the influence of the subsequent sulfurization condition on the morphology, composition and structure of the final Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films was investigated. A rapid thermal annealing equipment was used for a systematic control of the sulfurization process parameters. The as-deposited films are composed of binary metallic alloys, which can be converted to the highly crystalline CZTS phase after sulfurization at temperatures above 500 °C. The composition of the CZT film barely changes during the sulfurization, and a small amount of CuS-based secondary phases exists even at 550 °C. However, a quick post-annealing KCN treatment effectively and selectively removes the secondary phase, evidenced by the Raman spectroscopy and elemental.

The open-circuit voltage of bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells utilizing 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) as a processing additive was greatly improved by using an organic layer coated TiO 2 nanoparticle interfacial layer inserted between the active layer and the Al electrode. The transient photovoltage measurement revealed that there was significant non-geminate recombination at the DIO-processed active layer/Al electrode interface. Reduced open-circuit voltage ( V OC ) of the photovoltaic devices and high water contact angle of the DIO-processed active layer showed that the DIO-processed active layer has an undesirable surface composition for the electron collection. The organic layer coated TiO 2 nanoparticle interfacial layer effectively prevented the non-geminate recombination at the active layer/Al interface. As a result, we were able to significantly improve the V OC and power conversion efficiency from 0.46 V and 2.13% to 0.62 V and 3.95%, respectively.

We report a promising approach to fabricate organic–inorganic hybrid tandem photovoltaic devices with a reversed configuration. High bandgap hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) was deposited with plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition onto a solution-processed low bandgap organic photovoltaic (OPV) subcell. Two important factors for efficient tandem solar cells, interfacial series resistance (RS,int) and balanced photocurrents, were investigated. The intimate interfacial contact eliminated the RS,int, and sufficient transmittance of the OPV front subcell led to the well-balanced photocurrents. As a result, this reversed hybrid tandem device showed an enhanced efficiency of 3.3% and an open-circuit voltage of 1.51 V.

A low-cost, nonvacuum fabrication route for CuInSe2 and CuInS2 thin films is presented. To produce these films, binder-free colloidal precursors were prepared using Cu–In intermetallic nanoparticles that were synthesized via a chemical reduction method. The Cu–In alloy precursor films were transformed to CuInSe2 and CuInS2 by reactive annealing in chalcogen-containing atmospheres at atmospheric pressure. The as-synthesized nanoparticles and the annealed films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, electron probe X-ray microanalysis, Raman spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy depth profile measurements to elucidate the phase evolution pathway and the densification mechanism of the Cu–In–Se–S system. Solar cell devices made with CuInSe2 and CuInS2 absorbing layers exhibited power conversion efficiencies of 3.92% and 2.28%, respectively. A comparison of the devices suggested that the microstructur...

A facile method for increasing the reaction rate of dye adsorption, which is the most time-consuming step in the production of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), was developed. Treatment of a TiO2 photoanode with aqueous nitric acid solution (pH 1) remarkably reduced the reaction time required to anchor a carboxylate anion of the dye onto the TiO2 nanoparticle surface. After optimization of the reaction conditions, the dye adsorption process became 18 times faster than that of the conventional adsorption method. We studied the influence of the nitric acid treatment on the properties of TiO2 nanostructures, binding modes of the dye, and adsorption kinetics, and found that the reaction rate improved via the synergistic effects of the following: (1) electrostatic attraction between the positively charged TiO2 surface and ruthenium anion increases the collision frequency between the adsorbent and the anchoring group of the dye; (2) the weak anchoring affinity of NO3(-) in nitric acid with metal oxides enables the rapid coordination of an anionic dye with the metal oxide; and (3) sufficient acidity of the nitric acid solution effectively increases the positive charge density on the TiO2 surface without degrading or transforming the TiO2 nanostructure. These results demonstrate the developed method is effective for reducing the overall fabrication time without sacrificing the performance and long-term stability of DSSCs.

For the practical application of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), it is important to replace the conventional organic solvents based electrolyte with environmentally friendly and stable ones, due to the toxicity and leakage problems. Here we report a noble water-based thixotropic polymer gel electrolyte containing xanthan gum, which satisfies both the environmentally friendliness and stability against leakage and water intrusion. For application in DSSCs, it was possible to infiltrate the prepared electrolyte into the mesoporous TiO2 electrode at the fluidic state, resulting in sufficient penetration. As a result, this electrolyte exhibited similar conversion efficiency (4.78% at 100 mW cm(-2)) and an enhanced long-term stability compared to a water-based liquid electrolyte. The effects of water on the photovoltaic properties were examined elaborately from the cyclic voltammetry curves and impedance spectra. Despite the positive shift in the conduction band potential of the TiO2 electrode, the open-circuit voltage was enhanced by addition of water in the electrolyte due to the greater positive shift in the I(-)/I3(-) redox potential. However, due to the dye desorption and decreased diffusion coefficient caused by the water content, the short-circuit photocurrent density was reduced. These results will provide great insight into the development of efficient and stable water-based electrolytes.

The effect of the heating rate during the sulfurization process on the properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film solar cells was investigated. A moderate heating rate of ~10 oC/min was found to result in a modest solar cell performance (2 %), whereas the higher heating rates resulted in worse performances. In the CZTS thin films annealed with the highest heating rate, the segregation of Cu atoms towards the outer surface of the films, which is believed to lead to shunting of the solar cells.