A Challenge Beyond Bottom Cells: Top‐Illuminated Flexible Organic Solar Cells with Nanostructured Dielectric/Metal/Polymer (DMP) Films

Ham, Juyoung; Dong, Wan Jae; Park, Jae Yong; Yoo, Chul Jong; Lee, Illhwan; Lee, Jong‐Lam

doi:10.1002/adma.201501187

Cited by 35 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The state‐of‐the‐art single‐junction OSCs with plasmonic cavity structures,1, 2, 3 textured light trapping structures,4, 5 multiplasmonic effects,6, 7, 8 morphological implementation,9, 10 bandgap tuning,11, 12 and solution fabrication method13 now provide over 8–11% of power conversion efficiency (PCE) based on the above approaches or a combination of these approaches. However, over the past few years, a serious difficulty has also been observed in the increase of the PCE of single‐junction OSCs to over 12%.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrathin Organic Solar Cells with a Power Conversion Efficiency of Over ≈13.0%, Based on the Spatial Corrugation of the Metal Electrode–Cathode Fabry–Perot Cavity

Park

2018

Advanced Science

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The application of nanophotonic structures for organic solar cells (OSCs) is quite popular and successful, and has led to increased optical absorption, better spectral overlap with solar irradiances, and improved charge collection. Significant improvements in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) have also been reported, exceeding 11%. Nonetheless, with the given material properties of OSCs with low optical absorption, narrow spectrum, short transport length of carriers, and nonuniform photocarrier generations resulting from the nanophotonic structure, the PCE of single‐junction OSCs has been stagnant over the past few years, at a barrier of 12%. Here, an ultrathin inverted OSC structure with the highest efficiency of ≈13.0%, while being made from widely used organic materials, is demonstrated. By introducing a smooth spatial corrugation to the vertical plasmonic cavity enclosing the active layer, in‐plane propagation modes and hybridized Fabry–Perot cavity modes inside the corrugated cavity are derived to achieve an ultralow Q, uniform coverage of optical absorption, in addition to uniform photocarrier generation and transport. As the first demonstration of ultra‐broadband absorption with the introduction of spatial corrugation to the ultrathin metal film electrode–cathode Fabry–Perot cavity, future applications of the same concept in other light‐harvesting devices utilizing different materials and structures are expected.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrathin Organic Solar Cells with a Power Conversion Efficiency of Over ≈13.0%, Based on the Spatial Corrugation of the Metal Electrode–Cathode Fabry–Perot Cavity

Park

2018

Advanced Science

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“…[3][4][5][6][7][8] To further advance current flexible solar cell technologies, however, a larger absorption efficiency is required so as to have a high solar cell efficiency with a photoactive layer that is as thin as possible in order to attain a high degree of flexibility. [3][4][5][6][7][8] To further advance current flexible solar cell technologies, however, a larger absorption efficiency is required so as to have a high solar cell efficiency with a photoactive layer that is as thin as possible in order to attain a high degree of flexibility.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Charge Transport Modulation of a Flexible Quantum Dot Solar Cell Using a Piezoelectric Effect

Cho

Giraud

Hou

et al. 2017

Advanced Energy Materials

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that maintain the device performance on the application of strain/stress. [3][4][5][6][7][8] To further advance current flexible solar cell technologies, however, a larger absorption efficiency is required so as to have a high solar cell efficiency with a photoactive layer that is as thin as possible in order to attain a high degree of flexibility. In this regard, colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are one of the most promising materials as they have been shown to exhibit a high light absorption coefficient, a tunable band gap across the solar spectrum, and are solution processible. [9,10] Among the various types of QD materials, lead sulfide (PbS) QDs are considered to be one of the most attractive materials for solar cell applications because of their large Bohr radius, wide tuning range of the band gap, low material cost, and air stability. [11] As a result of these properties, PbS QD solar cells (QDSCs) have demonstrated a remarkable improvement in the efficiency when used in conventional, rigid solar cell architectures. [12] However, there is still room for further improvement in the QDSC performance. For example, by addressing factors such as the relatively low built-in potential, the excessive surface trap sites and interfaces, which cause an open circuit voltage (V oc ) deficit, and the low charge carrier dissociation and collection rate, it has been possible to enhance the performance of the solar cells. [13][14][15][16] In particular, the heterojunction between the electron transport layer (ETL) and the PbS QD layer plays a key role in governing the overall performance of the PbS QDSCs because charge trapping and recombination occurs much faster at this heterojunction than at other locations between and within the PbS QD layers. [17] To reduce the charge recombination at the interfaces, various strategies have been considered, such as engineering the energy band levels as well as the employment of a buffer layer. [18][19][20] However, flexible QDSCs are more susceptible to the loss of charge carriers at the junction due to recombination pathways that arise from the straining of the semiconducting layers during the fabrication process, which is a major limitation that has to be dealt with for an improvement in the performance of flexible QDSCs to be realized. [9,10] Therefore, fundamental strategies for structurally and actively controlling the junction properties are required to boost extraction and reduce the recombination of Colloidal quantum dots are promising materials for flexible solar cells, as they have a large absorption coefficient at visible and infrared wavelengths, a band gap that can be tuned across the solar spectrum, and compatibility with solution processing. However, the performance of flexible solar cells can be degraded by the loss of charge carriers due to recombination pathways that exist at a junction interface as well as the strained interface of the semiconducting layers. The modulation of the charge carrier transport by the piezoelectric effect is an effective way of resolving and im...

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“…Patterning the polymer into a well‐ordered nanostructure on the top Ag electrode can further improve the transmittance of the hybrid electrode. The resultant PCE is improved from 4.46% to 6.75% for PTB7:PC 70 BM‐based OSCs, which is mainly attributed to the both high transmittance and excellent haze of the patterned structure . In the subsequent work, Lee et al have proposed the asymmetric configurations of the polymer/metal Ag (8 nm)/dielectric WO 3 (30 nm) film as transparent bottom anode (see Figure c) .…”

Section: The Front Metal Electrodementioning

confidence: 98%

“…b) Total transmittance of planar MoO 3 /Ag, planar MoO 3 /Ag/PDMS (P0), and patterned MoO 3 /Ag/PDMS (P1 = 160 nm, P2 = 230 nm, P3 = 270 nm, and P4). Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2015, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. c) Schematic illustration of OSCs with Ormoclear/Ag/WO 3 electrode formed by sandwiching a smooth ultrathin Ag layer between Ormoclear and WO 3 .…”

Section: The Front Metal Electrodementioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Novel Metal Electrodes for Photovoltaic Applications

Ren

Ouyang

et al. 2018

Small

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Emerging novel metal electrodes not only serve as the collector of free charge carriers, but also function as light trapping designs in photovoltaics. As a potential alternative to commercial indium tin oxide, transparent electrodes composed of metal nanowire, metal mesh, and ultrathin metal film are intensively investigated and developed for achieving high optical transmittance and electrical conductivity. Moreover, light trapping designs via patterning of the back thick metal electrode into different nanostructures, which can deliver a considerable efficiency improvement of photovoltaic devices, contribute by the plasmon-enhanced light-mattering interactions. Therefore, here the recent works of metal-based transparent electrodes and patterned back electrodes in photovoltaics are reviewed, which may push the future development of this exciting field.

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A Challenge Beyond Bottom Cells: Top‐Illuminated Flexible Organic Solar Cells with Nanostructured Dielectric/Metal/Polymer (DMP) Films

Cited by 35 publications

References 32 publications

Ultrathin Organic Solar Cells with a Power Conversion Efficiency of Over ≈13.0%, Based on the Spatial Corrugation of the Metal Electrode–Cathode Fabry–Perot Cavity

Ultrathin Organic Solar Cells with a Power Conversion Efficiency of Over ≈13.0%, Based on the Spatial Corrugation of the Metal Electrode–Cathode Fabry–Perot Cavity

Charge Transport Modulation of a Flexible Quantum Dot Solar Cell Using a Piezoelectric Effect

Emerging Novel Metal Electrodes for Photovoltaic Applications

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