• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.08a
• /
• pp.74-74
• /
• 2011

Polymer solar cells utilize bulk heterojunction (BHJ) type photo-active layer in which the electron donating polymer and electron accepting C60 derivatives are mixed together. In the BHJ system the electron donating polymer and electron accepting C60 derivatives are blended. The blended system causes charge recombination at the interface between the BHJ active layer and electrode. To reduce the charge recombination at the interface, it is needed to use an interlayer that can selectively transfer electrons or holes. We have developed solution processable wide band gap inorganic interfacial layers for polymer solar cells. The effect of interlayers on the performance of polymer solar cell was investigated for various types of conjugated polymers. We have found that inorganic interfacial layers enhanced the solar cell efficiency through the reduction of charge recombination at the interface between active layer and electrode. Furthermore, the stability of the polymer solar cell using the interlayer was significantly improved. The efficiency of 6.5% was obtained from the PTB7:PCBM70 based solar cells utilizing $TiO_2$nanoparticles as an interlayers.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.61-73
• /
• 2024

All-perovskite tandem solar cells have been developed as a next-generation solar cell technology to surpass the efficiency limits of single-junction solar cells. By using perovskite materials with different bandgaps in the top and bottom cells, these tandem solar cells can effectively utilize a wider range of the solar spectrum. All-perovskite tandem solar cells have been focused as a next-generation solar cell due to their ability to achieve high efficiency while being manufactured through low-cost solution processing. This paper focuses on key components for improving the performance of all-perovskite tandem solar cells and essential components: wide bandgap perovskite solar cells, narrow bandgap perovskite solar cells, and charge recombination layers. The characteristics, main challenges, and strategies for overcoming these issues are discussed. For wide bandgap perovskites, efficiency is reduced by high trap densities and halide ion phase segregation. Improvement methods through additives and surface passivation are proposed to overcome these issues. In narrow bandgap perovskites, composition control and surface treatment techniques are being developed to reduce the oxidation of Sn-based materials and charge recombination in the perovskite. Additionally, the charge recombination layer is an essential component for efficient electron-hole recombination and minimizing optical losses, with materials such as transparent conductive oxides and ultrathin metals being used. These studies make a significant contribution to enhancing the efficiency and stability of all-perovskite tandem solar cells and suggest future research directions for commercialization.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2012.05a
• /
• pp.59.2-59.2
• /
• 2012

Polymer solar cells utilize bulk heterojunction (BHJ) type photo-active layer in which the electron donating polymer and electron accepting $C_{60}$ derivatives are blended. We found there is significant charge recombination at the interface between the BHJ active layer and electrode. The charge recombination at the interface was effectively reduced by inserting wide band gap inorganic interfacial layer, which resulted in efficiency and stability enhancement of BHJ polymer solar cell.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.68-75
• /
• 2011

In this review, we have investigated the effect of $TiO_2$-based blocking layers (t-BLs), deposited on a transparent conductive oxide (TCO)-coated glass substrate, on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The t-BL was deposited using spin-coating or sputtering technique, and its thicknesses were varied to study the influence of the thin $TiO_2$ layer in between transparent conducting glass and nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ (nc-$TiO_2$). The DSSC with the t-BL showed the improved adhesion and the suppressed charge recombination at a TCO glass substrate than those without the t-BL, which led to the higher conversion efficiency.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.1418-1420
• /
• 2008

In this paper, the light emitting efficiency, spectrum, and the lifetime of the phosphorescent devices, whose emission characteristics are strongly dominated not only by the energy transfer but also by the charge carrier trapping induced by the emissive dopant, are explained by differences in the energy levels of the host, dopant, and nearby transport layers. On the basis of our finding on device performance and photocurrent measurement data by time-of-flight (TOF), we investigated the effect of the difference of carrier trapping dopant and properties of the host materials on the efficiency roll-off of phosphorescent organic light emitting diode (OLED), along with a physical interpretation and practical design scheme, such as a multiple host system, for improving the efficiency and lifetime of devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.276-276
• /
• 2012

The interface morphology of organic active layers is known to play a crucial role in the performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. Especially, a controlled nanostructure with a large contact area between electron donor (D) and acceptor (A) layers is necessary to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the cells since the short exciton diffusion lengths in organic semiconductors limit the charge (hole and electron) separation before excitons recombination. In this work, we developed simple solvent treating methods to fabricate a nanostructured DA interface and applied them to enhance the PCE of ZnPc/C60 based small molecule OPV cells. Interestingly, it was observed that the solvent treatment on the donor layer prior to the deposition of the acceptor layer resulted in a significant decrease in PCE, which was due to an existence of undesirable voids at the DA interface. Instead, the solvent vapor treatment after the DA bilayer formation led to densely packed and well dispersed DA contacts. Consequently, 3-fold enhancement of PCE as compared to the untreated bilayer cell was accomplished.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.08a
• /
• pp.75.2-75.2
• /
• 2013

Atomic layer deposition (ALD), utilizing self-limiting surface reactions, could offer promising perspectives for future efficient energy conversion devices. The capabilities of ALD for surface/interface modification and construction of novel architectures with sub-nanometer precision and exceptional conformality over high aspect ratio make it more valuable than any other deposition methods in nanoscale science and technology. In the context, a variety of researches on fabrication of active materials for energy conversion applications by ALD are emerging. Among those materials, one-dimensional nanotubular titanium dioxide, providing not only high specific surface area but also efficient carrier transport pathway, is a class of the most intensively explored materials for energy conversion systems, such as photovoltaic cells and photo/electrochemical devices. The monodisperse, stoichiometric, anatase, TiO2 nanotubes with smooth surface morphology and controlled wall thickness were fabricated via low-temperature template-directed ALD followed by subsequent annealing. The ALD-grown, anatase, TiO2 nanotubes in alumina template show unusual crystal growth behavior which allows to form remarkably large grains along axial direction over certain wall thickness. We also fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) introducing our anatase TiO2 nanotubes as photoanodes, and studied the effect of blocking layer, TiO2 thin films formed by ALD, on overall device efficiency. The photon convertsion efficiency ~7% were measured for our TiO2 nanotubebased DSCs with blocking layers, which is ~1% higher than ones without blocking layer. We also performed open circuit voltage decay measurement to estimate recombination rate in our cells, which is 3 times longer than conventional nanoparticulate photoanodes. The high efficiency of our ALD-grown, anatase, TiO2 nanotube-based DSCs may be attributed to both enhanced charge transport property of our TiO2 nanotubes photoanode and the suppression of recombination at the interface between transparent conducting electrode and iodine electrolytes by blocking layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.252-252
• /
• 2012

It is widely accepted that short exciton diffusion lengths of organic semiconductors with respect to the film thickness limit the charge (hole and electron) separation before excitons recombination in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. Therefore the efficient absorption of incident light within the thin active organic layer is of great importance to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the cells. In this work, we fabricated 2-dimensionally (2D) nano-patterned poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOST:PSS) layers using capillary phenomenon and nano-imprinting technology at the scale of several hundred nanometers. This 2D nano-patterned PEDOT:PSS layer exerted photonic crystal effect such as redirection of light paths and variation of light intensity at specified wavelengths. It is also expected that the consequently alternated light pass lengths and intensities change the absorption properties of zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) thin films grown on top of the nano-patterned PEDOT:PSS layer. The influence of conductivity and thickness of the PEDOT:PSS layer on the absorption properties of ZnPc thin films were also investigated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.08a
• /
• pp.430-430
• /
• 2012

The surface recombination velocity of the silicon solar cell could be reduced by passivation with insulating layers such as $SiO_2$, SiNx, $Al_2O_3$, a-Si. Especially, the aluminium oxide has advantages over other materials at rear surface, because negative fixed charge via Al vacancy has an additional back surface field effect (BSF). It can increase the lifetime of the hole carrier in p-type silicon. The aluminium oxide thin film layer is usually deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, which is expensive and has low deposition rate. In this study, ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique was adopted to overcome drawbacks of ALD technique. In addition, it has been known that by annealing aluminium oxide layer in nitrogen atmosphere, the negative fixed charge effect could be further improved. By using ICP-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering technique, oxygen to nitrogen ratio could be precisely controlled. Fabricated aluminium oxy-nitride (AlON) layer on silicon wafers were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate the atomic concentration ratio and chemical states. The electrical properties of Al/($Al_2O_3$ or $SiO_2/Al_2O_3$)/Si (MIS) devices were characterized by the C-V measurement technique using HP 4284A. The detailed characteristics of the AlON passivation layer will be shown and discussed.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2022

Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have gained attention for applications in quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs) due to their high photoluminescence quantum yield, narrow emission spectra, and tunable bandgap. Nevertheless, non-radiative recombination induced by electron and hole imbalance deteriorates the device efficiency and stability. To overcome the problem, researchers have been trying to enhance hole transport properties of hole transporting layers (HTL) and/or slow down the electron injection in electron transport layer (ETL). Here, we summarize two approaches: i) development of interfacial materials between QD and ETL (or HTL); ii) engineering of HTL by blending or multi-layer approaches.