• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.307-316
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• 2014

Improved power conversion efficiency of hybrid solar cells with ITO/ZnO seed layer/ZnO NRs/ZnS QDs/P3HT/PCBM/Ag structure was obtained by optimizing the growth period of ZnO nanorods (NRs). ZnO NRs were grown using a hydrothermal method on ZnO seed layers, while ZnS quantum dots (QDs) (average thickness about 24 nm) were fabricated on the ZnO NRs by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique. Morphology, crystalline structure and optical absorption of layers were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible absorption spectra, respectively. The XRD results implied that ZnS QDs were in the cubic phase (sphalerite). Other experimental results showed that the maximum power conversion efficiency of 4.09% was obtained for a device based on ZnO NR10 under an illumination of one Sun (AM 1.5G, $100mW/cm^2$).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.72-72
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• 2010

Recent development of organic solar cell approaches the level of 8% power conversion efficiency by the introduction of new materials, improved material engineering, and more sophisticated device structures. As for interface engineering, various interlayer materials such as LiF, CaO, NaF, and KF have been utilized between Al electrode and active layer. Those materials lower the work function of cathode and interface barrier, protect the active layer, enhance charge collection efficiency, and induce active layer doping. However, the addition of another step of thin layer deposition could be a little complicated. Thus, on a typical solar cell structure of Al/P3HT:PCBM/PEDOT:PSS/ITO glass, we used Li:Al alloy electrode instead of Al to render a simple process. J-V measurement under dark and light illumination on the polymer solar cell using Li:Al cathode shows the improvement in electric properties such as decrease in leakage current and series resistance, and increase in circuit current density. This effective charge collection and electron transport correspond to lowered energy barrier for electron transport at the interface, which is measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Indeed, through the measurement of secondary ion mass spectroscopy, the Li atoms turn out to be located mainly at the interface between polymer and Al metal. In addition, the chemical reaction between polymer and metal electrodes are measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.268-268
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• 2010

The performance dependence of the P3HT:PCBM based bulk hetero-junction (BHJ) organic solar cells (OSCs) on the electrical and the optical properties of amorphous InZnSnO (a-IZTO) electrodes as a difference in film thicknesses are examined. With an increasing of the a-IZTO thickness, the series resistance ($R_{series}$) of the OSCs is reduced because of the reduction of sheet resistance ($R_{sheet}$) of a-IZTO electrodes. Additionally, It was found that the photocurrent density ($J_{sc}$) and the fill factor (FF) in OSCs are mainly affected by the electrical conductivity of the a-IZTO anode films rather than the optical transparency at thinner a-IZTO films. On the other hand, despite the much lower $R_{series}$ comes from thicker anode films, the dominant factor affecting the $J_{sc}$ became average optical transmittance of a-IZTO electrodes as well as power conversion efficiency (PCE) in same device configuration due to the thick anode films had as sufficiently low $R_{sheet}$ to extract the hole carrier from the active material.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.42-47
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• 2013

In this study, we have experimentally analyzed how the surface properties of transparent electrode layer influence the photovoltaic performance of bulk heterojunction organic solar cell by the contact angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) observation. As a result, the power conversion efficiency of test devices improved from 0.64% to 1.83% and 2.15% by UV-ozone exposure and $O_2$ plasma treatment, respectively. Thus, we conclude that the surface activation process is very important for better performance and stability in addition to the cleaning process of carbonate residue on the surface.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.343-343
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• 2014

We reported on the electrical, optical, structural and morphological properties fabricated by co-sputtering for use as an anode for organic solar cells (OSCs). By adjusting RF and DC power of $MoO_3$ and IZO targets during co-sputtering, we fabricated the $MoO_3$-IZO electrode with graded content of the $MoO_3$ on the IZO films. At optimized $MoO_3$ thickness of 20 nm, the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode showed a higher mobility ($33cm^2/V-Sec$) than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film ($26cm^2/V-Sec$). At visible range (400nm~800nm), optical transmittance of the $MoO_3$ graded IZO electrode is higher than that of directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. High mobility of $MoO_3$ graded on IZO is attributed to less interface scattering between $MoO_3$ and IZO. To investigate the feasibility of $MoO_3$ graded IZO films, we fabricated conventional P3HT:PCBM based OSCs with $MoO_3$ graded IZO as a function of MoO3 thickness. The OSC fabricated on the $MoO_3$ graded IZO anode showed a fill factor of 66.53%, a short circuit current of $8.121mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.592 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 3.2% comparable to OSC fabricated on ITO anode and higher than directly deposited $MoO_3$ on IZO film. We suggested possible mechanism to explain the high performance of OSCs with a $MoO_3$ graded IZO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.08a
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• pp.238-239
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• 2010

Dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) is one of the widely-used secondary dopants in order to enhance the conductivity of poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxy-thiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) film. In this work, we investigated the effect of DMSO doping in to PEDOT:PSS on the electrical performance of the bulk heterojunction photovoltaics consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2, 5-diyl) and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester. Correlation between the power conversion efficiency and the mechanism of improving conductivity, surface morphology, and contact properties was examined. The PEDOT:PSS films, which contain different concentration of DMSO, have been prepared and annealed at different annealing temperatures. The mixture of DMSO and PEDOT:PSS was prepared with a ratio of 1%, 5%, 15%, 25%, 35%, 45%, 55% by volume of DMSO, respectively. The DMSO-contained PEDOT:PSS solutions were stirred for 1hr at $40^{\circ}C$, then spin-coated on the ultra-sonicated glass. The spin-coated films were baked for 10min at $65^{\circ}C$, $85^{\circ}C$, and $120^{\circ}C$ in air. In order to investigate the electrical performance, P3HT:PCBM blended film was deposited with thickness of 150nm on DMSO-doped PEDOT:PSS layer. After depositing 100nm of Al, the device was post-annealed for 30min at $120^{\circ}C$ in vacuum. The fabricated cells, in this study, have been characterized by using several techniques such as UV-Visible spectrum, 4-point probe, J-V characteristics, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The power conversion efficiency (AM 1.5G conditions) was increased from 0.91% to 2.35% by tuning DMSO doping ratio and annealing temperature. It is believed that the improved power conversion efficiency of the photovoltaics is attributed to the increased conductivity, leading to increasing short-circuit current in DMSO-doped PEDOT:PSS layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.131-131
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• 2010

We compared the electrical, optical, structural, and interface properties of indium zinc oxide (IZO)-Ag-IZO and IZO-Au-IZO multilayer electrodes deposited by linear facing target sputtering system at room temperature for organic photovoltaics. The IZO-Ag-IZO and IZO-Au-IZO multilayer electrodes show a significant reduction in their sheet resistance (4.15 and 5.49 Ohm/square) and resistivity ($3.9{\times}10^{-5}$ and $5.5{\times}10^{-5}$Ohm-cm) with increasing thickness of the Ag and Au layers, respectively. In spite of its similar electrical properties, the optical transmittance of the IZO-Ag-IZO electrode is much higher than that of the IZO-Au-IZO electrode, due to the more effective antireflection effect of Ag than Au in the visible region. In addition, the Auger electron spectroscopy depth profile results for the IZO/Ag/IZO and IZO/Au/IZO multilayer electrodes showed no interfacial reaction between the IZO layer and Ag or Au layer, due to the low preparation temperature. To investigate in detail the Ag and Au structures on the bottom IZO electrode with increasing thickness, a synchrotron x-ray scattering examination was employed. Moreover, the OSC fabricated on the IZO-Ag-IZO electrode shows a higher power conversion efficiency (3.05%) than the OSC prepared on the IZO-Au-IZO electrode (2.66%), due to its high optical transmittance in the wavelength range of 400-600 nm, which is the absorption wavelength of the P3HT:PCBM active layer.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.84.2-84.2
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• 2010

PEMS (printed electro-mechanical system) is fabricated by means of various printing technologies. Passive and active components in 2D or 3D such as conducting lines, resistors, capacitors, inductors and TFT, which are printed with functional materials, can be classified in this category. And the issue of PEMS is applied to a R2R process in the manufacturing process. In many electro-devices, the vacuum process is used as the manufacturing process. However, the vacuum process has a problem: it is difficult to apply toa continuous process as a R2R printing process. In this paper, we propose an ESD (electro static deposition) printing process has been used to apply an organic solar cell of thin film forming. ESD is a method of liquid atomization by electrical forces, anelectrostatic atomizer sprays micro-drops from the solution injected into the capillary, with electrostatic force generated by electric potential of about tens of kV. ESD method is usable in the thin film coating process of organic materials and continuous process as a R2R manufacturing process. Therefore, we experiment the thin films forming of PEDOT:PSS layer and Active layer which consist of the P3HT:PCBM. The result of experiment, organic solar cell using ESD thin film coated method is occurred efficiency of about 1.4%. Also, the case of only used to ESD method in the active layer coating is occurred efficiency of about 1.86% as the applying a spin coating in the PEDOT:PSS layer. We can expect that ESD method is possible for continuous process to manufacture in the organic solar cell or OLED device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.257.1-257.1
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• 2014

We investigated characteristics of ITO/Ag-Pd-Cu (APC)/ITO multilayer electrodes prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering for use as an anode in organic solar cells (OSCs). To optimize electrical properties of ITO/APC/ITO multilayer, we fabricated the ITO/APC/ITO multilayer at a fixed ITO thickness of 30 nm as a function of APC thickness. Compare to the surface of Ag layer on ITO, the APC had a smooth surface morphology. At optimized APC thickness of 12 nm, the ITO/APC/ITO multilayer exhibited a sheet resistance of $6{\Omega}/square$ and optical transmittance of 84.15% at a wavelength of 550 nm which is comparable to conventional ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer. However, the APC-based ITO multilayer showed a higher average transmittance in a visible region than the Ag-based ITO multilayer. The higher average transmittance of ITO/APC/ITO multilayer indicated the multilayer is suitable anode for organic solar cells with P3HT:PCBM active layer. OSCs fabricated on the optimized ITO/ACP/ITO multilayer exhibited a better performance with a fill factor of 64.815%, a short circuit current of $8.107mA/cm^2$, an open circuit voltage of 0.59 V, and power conversion efficiency (3.101%) than OSC with ITO/Ag/ITO multilayer (2.8%).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.217-217
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• 2012

Solution-processed tungsten oxide thin film with thickness of about 30 nm is prepared from ammonium tungstate. This layer is introduced into the interface between the poly(3-hexylthiophene):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) layer and the ITO electrode to be used as an electron blocking layer. The annealed tungsten oxide thin films at $150^{\circ}C$ and $300^{\circ}C$ show amorphous phase, while the $400^{\circ}C$ -annealed tungsten oxide film shows crystalline phase. At $150^{\circ}C$ annealing temperature, the conversion efficiency is significantly improved from 0.71% to 1.42% as the condition is changed from vacuum to air atmosphere, which is related to oxidation state of tungsten in amorphous phase. For the air annealing condition, the conversion efficiency is further increased from 1.42% to 2.01% as the temperature is increased from $150^{\circ}C$ to $300^{\circ}C$, which is mainly due to the removal of the chemisorbed water. However, a slight deterioration in photovoltaic performance is observed when the temperature is increased to $400^{\circ}C$, which is ascribed to poor electron blocking ability due to the formation of crystalline phase. It is concluded that $W^{6+}$ oxidation state and amorphous nature in tungsten oxide interlayer is essential for blocking electron effectively from the active layer to the ITO electrode.