Extraction of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) properties from dark current voltage characteristics in a P3HT/n-crystalline-silicon solar cell

Nolasco, J. C.; Cabré, Roser Bono; Ferré‐Borrull, Josep; Marsal, Lluís F.; Estrada, M.; Pallarès, Josep

doi:10.1063/1.3296294

Cited by 73 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Temperature-dependent transport with a small β-value has been associated with activated hopping between sites in both single molecules (35,36) and ensemble junctions (16,23), presumably governed by MarcusLevich kinetics. The low-V, high-T Arrhenius slopes of 150-300 meV listed in Table 1 are comparable to those reported for bulk polythiophene, e.g., 128-143 meV (37) and 280 meV (38), in which interchain charge transfer dominates transport (39,40). The additional thermally activated transport mechanism that provides an extra current contribution and yields the β = 0 nm −1 values seen in BTB devices at room temperature can thus be attributed to redox hopping, and represents the bulk limit commonly observed in organic semiconductors.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

Activationless charge transport across 4.5 to 22 nm in molecular electronic junctions

Yan

Bergren

McCreery

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

160

259

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In this work, we bridge the gap between short-range tunneling in molecular junctions and activated hopping in bulk organic films, and greatly extend the distance range of charge transport in molecular electronic devices. Three distinct transport mechanisms were observed for 4.5-22-nm-thick oligo(thiophene) layers between carbon contacts, with tunneling operative when d < 8 nm, activated hopping when d > 16 nm for high temperatures and low bias, and a third mechanism consistent with field-induced ionization of highest occupied molecular orbitals or interface states to generate charge carriers when d = 8-22 nm. Transport in the 8-22-nm range is weakly temperature dependent, with a field-dependent activation barrier that becomes negligible at moderate bias. We thus report here a unique, activationless transport mechanism, operative over 8-22-nm distances without involving hopping, which severely limits carrier mobility and device lifetime in organic semiconductors. Charge transport in molecular electronic junctions can thus be effective for transport distances significantly greater than the 1-5 nm associated with quantum-mechanical tunneling.all-carbon molecular junction | attenuation coefficient | field ionization | strong electronic coupling C harge transport mechanisms in organic and molecular electronics underlie the ultimate functionality of a new generation of electronic devices. Understanding, controlling, and designing molecular devices for use as practical components requires an intimate knowledge of the system energy levels and operative transport mechanisms, and how key variables such as molecule length, identity, temperature, etc., affect device performance parameters. Especially interesting in this context is the relationship between organic electronic devices, which typically have active layer thicknesses of tens to hundreds of nanometers, and molecular electronic devices reported to date, in which at least one dimension for charge propagation is below 10 nm. Indeed, many types of functional organic electronic devices have been demonstrated, including thinfilm transistors, organic light-emitting diodes, and memory cells (1, 2). Bridging the gap between organic and molecular devices may therefore reveal pathways for improving the performance of such devices, or even lead to new types of devices based on alternative transport mechanisms.The great majority of molecular electronic devices investigated to date have transport distances of <5 nm between the contacts, where the prevalent transport mechanism is quantum-mechanical tunneling. For this distance range, there is general agreement that the conductance scales exponentially with length, with an attenuation coefficient (β), defined as the slope of ln J vs. thickness (d), equal to 8 to 9 nm −1 for aliphatic molecules (3-6) and 2-3 nm −1 for aromatic molecules (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). A few molecular electronic systems have been investigated beyond 5 nm (15, 16), some of which exhibit a decrease in β to less than 1 nm −1 . Such small values of β ar...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 69%

Activationless charge transport across 4.5 to 22 nm in molecular electronic junctions

Yan

Bergren

McCreery

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

160

259

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“…The slope of this curve is found from the best linear fit using Origin 7.5 software, since the slope gives the activation energy (slope = -Ea / 1000k) and the data are tabulated with the goodness of the fit (R 2 ) in table 3. The present activation energy is consistent with previous reported thermal activation energy of P3HT ( ~0.8 eV) [27][28][29] and this is related to the trap depth of the device where charge carriers are activated by thermal energy from traps, and are hopped to the nearest site [27,28,30,31]. It is deduced that room temperature DC conductivity of the pristine P3HT is 3.4127 S/m and conductivity variation is negligible even when ZnS particles are dispersed with P3HT.…”

Section: Arrhenius Modelsupporting

confidence: 82%

DC conductivity studies of ZnS and Ag nanoparticles doped P3HT thin films

Kareem

2016

IJPR

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Interest in the P3HT: ZnS nanocomposites are increased due to their applicability as an active layer for bulk heterojunction solar cells of high open circuit voltage and charge transport in this type of solar cells determines their performance. So the study of the conduction mechanism of the P3HT:ZnS nanocomposites is significant to improve the efficiency of such solar cells, and this paper discusses both the Arrhenius Model and the Variable Range Hopping (VRH) conduction mechanism in the P3HT:ZnS nanocomposite films. It is found that the addition of the semiconductor nanoparticles does not make any remarkable change in the room temperature DC conduction of P3HT polymer. Further, the films have been studied by their absorption spectra, x-ray diffractogram, scanning electron microscope and noncontact profilometer.

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“…However, PECVD processes are very costly and need high vacuum (>10 −6 ) conditions, while additional safety measures are needed due to the toxic dopant gases required. As an alternative to these difficulties, different transition metal oxides [5], [6] and conducting polymers such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PE-DOT:PSS) [7] and Poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) [8] have been used as alternative hole selective contacts in n-type silicon (n-Si)-based solar cells. The conducting polymers can be easily deposited by solution-based processes at low (<100°C) temperatures and ambient pressures, reducing significantly the processing cost.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PEDOT:PSS as an Alternative Hole Selective Contact for ITO-Free Hybrid Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell

Mahato

Gerling

Voz

et al. 2016

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells were fabricated by spin coating of conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) as hole selective contact upon textured n-type crystalline silicon wafers. Two different PEDOT:PSS commercial products (Clevios HTL Solar and PH1000) were compared, enhancing their conductivity and wettability by addition of dimethyl sulfoxide cosolvent and Capstone FS-31 surfactant. Transmission line measurements (TLM) revealed that the sheet resistance of the PEDOT:PSS layer was comparable with that of conventional Indium-Tin oxide (ITO) electrodes, allowing its use as a conductive transparent layer in an ITO-free solar cell. Quasi-steady-state photoconductance measurements revealed an implied open-circuit voltage of 644 mV for HTL Solar, which is equivalent to a saturation current density of 255 fA/cm 2 . In general, the performance of HTL Solar was better than PH1000, exhibiting power conversion efficiency (1 × 1 cm 2 cell area) of 11.6%, as compared with 8.5%.Index Terms-Crystalline silicon (c-Si), hole selective contact, hybrid solar cell, poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS).

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Extraction of poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) properties from dark current voltage characteristics in a P3HT/n-crystalline-silicon solar cell

Cited by 73 publications

References 23 publications

Activationless charge transport across 4.5 to 22 nm in molecular electronic junctions

Activationless charge transport across 4.5 to 22 nm in molecular electronic junctions

DC conductivity studies of ZnS and Ag nanoparticles doped P3HT thin films

PEDOT:PSS as an Alternative Hole Selective Contact for ITO-Free Hybrid Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell

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