Enhanced Performance in Quantum Dot Solar Cell with Tiox and N2

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Enhanced Performance in Quantum Dot Solar Cell with Tiox and N2 Enhanced Performance in Quantum Dot Solar Cell with TiOx and N2 Doped TiOx Interlayers by Jialin Yu A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Approved May 2011 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Ghassan Jabbour, Chair Terry Alford Hongbin Yu ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY August 2011 ABSTRACT As the 3rd generation solar cell, quantum dot solar cells are expected to outperform the first 2 generations with higher efficiency and lower manufacture cost. Currently the main problems for QD cells are the low conversion efficiency and stability. This work is trying to improve the reliability as well as the device performance by inserting an interlayer between the metal cathode and the active layer. Titanium oxide and a novel nitrogen doped titanium oxide were compared and TiOxNy capped device shown a superior performance and stability to TiOx capped one. A unique light anneal effect on the interfacial layer was discovered first time and proved to be the trigger of the enhancement of both device reliability and efficiency. The efficiency was improved by 300% and the device can retain 73.1% of the efficiency with TiOxNy when normal device completely failed after kept for long time. Photoluminescence indicted an increased charge disassociation rate at TiOxNy interface. External quantum efficiency measurement also inferred a significant performance enhancement in TiOxNy capped device, which resulted in a higher photocurrent. X-ray photoelectron spectrometry was performed to explain the impact of light doping on optical band gap. Atomic force microscopy illustrated the effect of light anneal on quantum dot polymer surface. The particle size is increased and the surface composition is changed after irradiation. The mechanism for performance improvement via a TiOx based interlayer was discussed based on a trap filling model. Then Tunneling AFM was performed to further confirm the reliability of interlayer capped organic photovoltaic devices. As a powerful tool based on SPM i technique, tunneling AFM was able to explain the reason for low efficiency in non-capped inverted organic photovoltaic devices. The local injection properties as well as the correspondent topography were compared in organic solar cells with or without TiOx interlayer. The current-voltage characteristics were also tested at a single interested point. A severe short-circuit was discovered in non capped devices and a slight reverse bias leakage current was also revealed in TiOx capped device though tunneling AFM results. The failure reason for low stability in normal devices was also discussed comparing to capped devices. ii DEDICATION To my dear family for their everlasting love and support iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is my pleasure to thank those who have helped and supported me during my master‟s study. Firstly I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Ghassan E. Jabbour, for his encouragement and kindness to me during the difficult times in my research. His brilliance in this solar technology field as well as the positive attitude to life are impressive. Those valuable lessons he taught me will be carried on in my future. Secondly, I will thank Prof. Terry Alford for not only the financial support at the final time of my study, but prompt and effective arrangements and coordination. He also provided me valuable suggestions on my data and paper. I also want to thank Prof. Hongbing Yu for his advice as a member of my thesis committee. Thirdly, I would like to thank Dr. Inho Kim as an old group member for his help and patience in all of my research. Then I would express my thanks to my group members for their help: Dr. Xiaohui Yang, Dr. Madhusudan Singh, Dr. Parul Dhagat, Dr. Tricia Youngbull, Hanna Haverinen, Kyu Sung Lee and Jea- Young Choi. It was a great experience to work with them. I will also thank Prof. Jian Li and his group members for equipment and idea share. In particular, I am grateful to Yolanda Murphy for her assistance and guide in my difficult time. Finally I am deeply indebted to my parents and parents-in-law for lasting love and support in pursuing a master degree. Thanks to my dear husband, Jilin for his patience and help in my study and life. Thanks to my dear son, Frank for the happiness and touch he brings to me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Solar Energy ................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 The need to utilize solar energy .......................................... 1 1.1.2 Solar Spectrum .................................................................... 2 1.2 The development of Photovoltaics ............................................... 3 1.2.1 What is Photovoltaics .......................................................... 3 1.2.2 1st Generation Photovoltaics ................................................ 4 1.2.3 2nd Generation Photovoltaics ............................................... 5 1.2.4 3rd Generation Photovoltaics ............................................... 7 1.3 Motivation and Outline of the thesis ............................................ 9 2 QUANTUM DOT POLYMER SOLAR CELLS ............................... 12 2.1 Advantages of quantum dot ........................................................ 12 2.1.1 Solution process and the factors affecting QD properties 13 2.1.2 Polymer choosing .............................................................. 15 2.2 Nanoparticle-Polymer Solar Cells.............................................. 16 2.2.1 Device Architecture ........................................................... 16 2.2.2 Factors that determine the device efficiency .................... 17 2.3 Power Conversion Efficiency Measurement ............................. 21 v CHAPTER Page 3 IMPROVED EFFICIENCY AND STABILITY VIA EMBEDDING NITROGEN DOPED TITANIUM OXIDE ................................. 24 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 24 3.2 Experimental section .................................................................. 28 3.3 Results and Discussions ............................................................. 30 3.4 Conclusions ................................................................................. 47 4 LOCAL ELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF NANOPARTICLE /POLYMER SOLAR CELL WITH TITANIUM OXIDE ....................... 49 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................. 49 4.2 Inverted OPV .............................................................................. 56 4.3 Experimental Methods................................................................ 58 4.4 Energy level and operation principles ........................................ 59 4.5 Tunneling current regarding interfacial layer ............................ 61 4.6 Conclusion .................................................................................. 66 5 SUMMARY AND FUTURE ............................................................... 68 5.1 Summary ..................................................................................... 68 5.2 Future .......................................................................................... 69 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 70 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 3.1. Composition of TiOxNy films as determined by XPS ...................... 36 3.2. Percentage of Voc, Jsc, FF and PCE retained after kept for 21 days for reference device, TiOx cappped device and TiOxNy capped device ............................................................................................................ .47 4.1 Corresponding device parameters ..................................................... 61 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1. Schematic of energy distribution versus the time ............................... 2 1.2. NREL compilation of best research solar cell efficiencies .................. 9 2.1. Structure of popular conductive polymers ........................................ 16 2.2. (a)metal-semiconductor junction, (b) polymer-semiconductor, and (c) semiconductor-semiconductor systems ............................................. 17 2.3. Bilayer heterojunction in comparison with bulk heterojunction, red zone is active region .......................................................................... 18 2.4. (a) J-V characteristics of OPV under illumination and corresponding circuit .................................................................................................. 22 3.1. (a) Schematic illustration of device structure and ligh anneal configuration. Tapping mode AFM height images of TiOx (b) and TiOxNy (c) on taop of the QD/P3HT and correspondng contact mode AFM 3D height images (d) and (e) ................................................... 32 3.2. XPS survey spectra and multiplex high-resolution scan over N 1s, Ti 2p and O 1s spectral regions for TiOxNy thin film on Si substrate, 1 min Ar+ sputtering is done before the scanning. ............................... 36 3.3. (a) Absorption spectra for TiOx and TiOxNy thin film, (b) Optical band
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