Indium tin oxide-free inverted polymer solar cells with ultrathin metal transparent electrodes

doi:10.1007/s12200-017-0713-9

Front. Optoelectron.

2017, Vol. 10

Issue (4) : 402-408 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-017-0713-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Indium tin oxide-free inverted polymer solar cells with ultrathin metal transparent electrodes

Tao YUAN, Zhonghuan CAO, Guoli TU(

)

Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

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Abstract

Efficient indium tin oxide (ITO)-free inverted polymer solar cells (PSCs) were fabricated by applying ultrathin metal transparent electrodes as sunlight incident electrodes. Smooth and continuous Ag film of 4 nm thickness was developed through the introduction of a 2 nm Au seed layer. Ultrathin Ag transparent electrode with an average transmittance of up to 80% from 480 to 680 nm and a sheet resistance of 35.4 W/sq was obtained through the introduction of a ZnO anti-reflective layer. The ultrathin metal electrode could be directly used as cathode in polymer solar cells without oxygen plasma treatment. ITO-free inverted PSCs obtained a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.2% by utilizing the ultrathin metal transparent electrodes. These results demonstrated a simple method of fabricating ITO-free inverted PSCs.

Keywords polymer solar cells ultrathin metal transparent electrodes seed layer anti-reflective layer

Corresponding Author(s): Guoli TU

Just Accepted Date: 21 June 2017 Online First Date: 22 August 2017 Issue Date: 21 December 2017

Cite this article:

Tao YUAN,Zhonghuan CAO,Guoli TU. Indium tin oxide-free inverted polymer solar cells with ultrathin metal transparent electrodes[J]. Front. Optoelectron., 2017, 10(4): 402-408.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-017-0713-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2017/V10/I4/402

Fig.1 AFM images of (a) glass/MoO₃/Ag(6 nm) and (b) glass/MoO₃/Au (2 nm)/Ag (4 nm)

Fig.2 (a) Histogram of the surface height values for glass/MoO₃/Ag (6 nm) and glass/MoO₃/Au (2 nm)/Ag (4 nm); (b) transmittance of glass/MoO₃/Ag (6 nm) and glass/MoO₃/Au (2 nm)/Ag (4 nm) from 300 to 800 nm

Tab.1 Average transmittance, RMS, and R_s of glass/MoO₃/Au/Ag modified by 18, 27, and 39 nm ZnO

Fig.3 (a) Modeled and (b) measured transmission of metal electrode modified by ZnO films

Fig.4 AFM images of glass/MoO₃/Au/Ag modified by (a) 18, (b) 27, and (c) 39 nm ZnO

Fig.5 (a) Device structure and (b) energy level diagram of ultrathin metal electrode-based inverted polymer solar cells

Tab.2 Detailed devices parameters for the PTB7:PC₇₁BM PSCs with different incident electrodes

Fig.6 (a) J–V curves obtained under the illumination of AM 1.5G 100 mW/cm² for the PTB7:PC₇₁BM PSCs with different incident electrodes; and (b) transmittance and R_s of different electrodes

Fig. S1Transmittance spectra of pure glass and MoO₃ deposited on glass substrates

Fig. S2 Chemical structures of PTB7 and PC₇₁BM

Fig. S3 AFM image of (a) ITO substrate and (b) ZnO film deposited on an ITO substrate

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