Improvement of photovoltaic performance of inverted hybrid solar cells by adding single-wall carbon nanotubes in poly(3-hexylthiophene)

Solution prepared hybrid solar cells show promising low cost technology for electricity generation from sun light, although their power conversion efficiency has to be improved. One of the approaches is to increase the absorbance or charge carrier mobility of organic semiconductors. In this work, pristine single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were added into poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) solution to form P3HT:SWCNT composite films with different weight percent (wt%) of SWCNT. It is observed that optical absorbance spectra as well as the morphology of the composite films were modified by the addition of SWCNTs. This phenomenon could be explained by the π-π interaction between the conjugated polymer and carbon nanotubes. Most importantly, the electrical conductivities of the composite films increased with the SWCNT wt%. When these films were used as hole conductor layers in inverted planar hybrid solar cell, with CdS thin films as electron acceptor layers, the fill factor (FF) and open-circuit voltage (Voc) of the corresponding cells were decreased with the increase of the wt% of SWCNT. However, the short-circuit current density (Jsc) and the power conversion efficiency (PCE) showed a maximum value at about 0.4 wt% of SWCNT in P3HT. The transient photovoltage measurements (TPV) revealed that the presence of SWNCT promoted the charge recombination process at P3HT/CdS interface, and as a result, reduced the Voc. The photovoltaic performance of the hybrid solar cells could be optimized by choosing an adequate weight percentage of SWCNT in P3HT to balance the charge carrier transport and charge recombination processes at the donor-acceptor interface.     

～1.2 V open-circuit voltage from organic solar cells

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved rapid advance due to the continuous development of high-performance key materials.Recently,the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs)of OSCs under 1 Sun condition (AM 1.5 G,100 mW/cm2) are striving toward 19％[1-5].The PCE improvement benefits from the largely enhanced short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF).However,these cells show relatively low open-circuit voltage (Voc) around 0.8-0.9 V.The rise of Internet of Things (loT) industry has promoted the indoor application of solar cells.OSCs can afford higher PCEs under various indoor light as compared to 1 Sun condition[6,7],but they present lower Voc[8].Fabricating tandem devices is an effective strategy to boost the performance of OSCs.Sub-cells with syn-chronously high Voc,Jsc and FF are highly desired in tandem cells,while these sub-cells are still limited[9].Thus,improving Voc without sacrificing Jsc and FF is an urgent mission in OSCs.     

光强对有机小分子太阳电池光伏性能的影响

采用真空蒸镀的方法,制备了ZnPc(40 nm)/C60(20 nm)结构的电池,重点研究了不同光强测试条件下,ZnPc/C60电池光伏性能的变化情况。发现开路电压(Voc)和填充因子(FF)随光强呈现对数式的变化趋势,前者逐渐上升而后者则下降,短路电流与光强的关系为Jsc∝E1.13,电池的功率转换效率(η)随光强稳步上升。拟合计算得到电池的理想因子n=1.93;100 mW/cm2辐照条件下,Rs=25Ω,Rsh=116Ω;分析认为,器件的准费密能级分裂程度随光强增强而增大是导致开路电压增大的原因;而Jsc-E强于正比关系则是C60产生激子对电流有辅助贡献的结果。     

利用Rubrene/C70异质结提高有机太阳能电池的性能

用C70、C60作为受体,Rubrene、CuPc作为给体,制备了4种异质结有机太阳能电池（（）SCs）。实验结果表明,c70代替Qo作为受体的OSCs短路电流Jsc显著增加;Rubrene代替CuPc作为给体的OSCs的开路电压Voc大幅度提高。制备的Rubrene／G70异质结OSCs的Voc、Jsc填充因子FF和...     

Dember effect in fast photoconductive circuit elements

The observed independence of mobility on surface conditions in InP:Fe fast photoconductivity devices is explained by inclusion of the Dember electric field resulting from unequal electron and hole mobilities. From the calculated electron-concentration distribution as a function of the distance normal to the device surface, we determine that the mean position of the electron concentration in InP lies more than one standard deviation below the surface for laser excitation of 780 nm and a high-injection ambipolar surface recombination velocity of 10⁶cm/s. Results are presented for InP:Fe as a function of surface recombination velocity, and related results are presented for Si and for a material with equal hole and electron mobilities.     

Charge Photogeneration in Non-Fullerene Organic Solar Cells: Influence of Excess Energy and Electrostatic Interactions

In organic solar cells, photogenerated singlet excitons form charge transfer (CT) complexes, which subsequently split into free charge carriers. Here, the contributions of excess energy and molecular quadrupole moments to the charge separation process are considered. The charge photogeneration in two separate bulk heterojunction systems consisting of the polymer donor PTB7-Th and two non-fullerene acceptors, ITIC and h-ITIC, is investigated. CT state dissociation in these donor–acceptor systems is monitored by charge density decay dynamics obtained from transient absorption experiments. The electric field dependence of charge carrier generation is studied at different excitation energies by time delayed collection field (TDCF) and sensitive steady-state photocurrent measurements. Upon excitation below the optical gap, free charge carrier generation becomes less field dependent with increasing photon energy, which challenges the view of charge photogeneration proceeding through energetically lowest CT states. The average distance between electron–hole pairs at the donor–acceptor interface is determined from empirical fits to the TDCF data. The delocalization of CT states is larger in PTB7-Th:ITIC, the system with larger molecular quadrupole moment, indicating the sizeable effect of the electrostatic potential at the donor–acceptor interface on the dissociation of CT complexes.     

Charge Transport and Photocurrent Generation in Poly(3‐hexylthiophene): Methanofullerene Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells

The effect of controlled thermal annealing on charge transport and photogeneration in bulk‐heterojunction solar cells made from blend films of regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and methanofullerene (PCBM) has been studied. With respect to the charge transport, it is demonstrated that the electron mobility dominates the transport of the cell, varying from 10^–8 m² V^–1 s^–1 in as‐cast devices to ≈3 × 10^–7 m² V^–1 s^–1 after thermal annealing. The hole mobility in the P3HT phase of the blend is dramatically affected by thermal annealing. It increases by more than three orders of magnitude, to reach a value of up to ≈ 2 × 10^–8 m² V^–1 s^–1 after the annealing process, as a result of an improved crystallinity of the film. Moreover, upon annealing the absorption spectrum of P3HT:PCBM blends undergo a strong red‐shift, improving the spectral overlap with solar emission, which results in an increase of more than 60 % in the rate of charge‐carrier generation. Subsequently, the experimental electron and hole mobilities are used to study the photocurrent generation in P3HT:PCBM devices as a function of annealing temperature. The results indicate that the most important factor leading to a strong enhancement of the efficiency, compared with non‐annealed devices, is the increase of the hole mobility in the P3HT phase of the blend. Furthermore, numerical simulations indicate that under short‐circuit conditions the dissociation efficiency of bound electron–hole pairs at the donor/acceptor interface is close to 90 %, which explains the large quantum efficiencies measured in P3HT:PCBM blends.     

正置倒置异质结有机小分子太阳能电池

以MoO3为阳极修饰层,以Rubrene/C60为活性层,制备了正置和倒置异质结有机小分子太阳能电池。实验结果表明倒置器件的开路电压Voc、短路电流密度Jsc、填充因子FF和功率转换效率η比正置结构的器件分别提高了34%、20%、25%和102%。当插入BCP阴极缓冲层后,阻挡了热的Al原子对C60层的破坏,对倒置器件的性能没有明显的影响,但却显著改善了正置器件的性能,并分析了MoO3和BCP对倒置和正置器件的作用。     

Microstructural Control of Charge Transport in Organic Blend Thin‐Film Transistors

The charge‐transport processes in organic p‐channel transistors based on the small‐molecule 2,8‐difluoro‐5,11‐bis(triethylsilylethynyl)anthradithiophene (diF‐TES ADT), the polymer poly(triarylamine)(PTAA) and blends thereof are investigated. In the case of blend films, lateral conductive atomic force microscopy in combination with energy filtered transmission electron microscopy are used to study the evolution of charge transport as a function of blends composition, allowing direct correlation of the film's elemental composition and morphology with hole transport. Low‐temperature transport measurements reveal that optimized blend devices exhibit lower temperature dependence of hole mobility than pristine PTAA devices while also providing a narrower bandgap trap distribution than pristine diF‐TES ADT devices. These combined effects increase the mean hole mobility in optimized blends to 2.4 cm²/Vs – double the value measured for best diF‐TES ADT‐only devices. The bandgap trap distribution in transistors based on different diF‐TES ADT:PTAA blend ratios are compared and the act of blending these semiconductors is seen to reduce the trap distribution width yet increase the average trap energy compared to pristine diF‐TES ADT‐based devices. Our measurements suggest that an average trap energy of <75 meV and a trap distribution of <100 meV is needed to achieve optimum hole mobility in transistors based on diF‐TES ADT:PTAA blends.     

Femtosecond optical nonlinearities of CdSe quantum dots

Femtosecond differential absorption measurements of the quantum-confined transitions in CdSe microcrystallites are reported. Spectral hole burning is observed, which is accompanied by an induced absorption feature on the high-energy side. The spectral position of the burned hole depends on the excitation wavelength. For excitation on the low-energy side of the lowest quantum-confined transition, a slight shift of the hole towards the line center is observed. The hole width increases with pump intensity and the magnitude of the induced transparency saturates at the highest excitation level. The results are consistently explained by bleaching of one-pair states and induced absorption caused by the photoexcited two electron-hole pair states. It is concluded that the presence of one electron in the excited state prevents further absorption of photons at the pair-transition energy and accounts for the major portion of the bleaching of the transition     

Solution‐Processable Hole‐Generation Layer and Electron‐Transporting Layer: Towards High‐Performance,Alternating‐Current‐Driven,Field‐Induced Polymer Electroluminescent Devices

The effect of solution‐processed p‐type doping of hole‐generation layers (HGLs) and electron‐transporting layer (ETLs) are systematically investigated on the performance of solution‐processable alternating current (AC) field‐induced polymer EL (FIPEL) devices in terms of hole‐generation capability of HGLs and electron‐transporting characteristics of ETLs. A variety of p‐type doping conjugated polymers and a series of solution‐processed electron‐transporting small molecules are employed. It is found that the free hole density in p‐type doping HGLs and electron mobility of solution‐processed ETLs are directly related to the device performance, and that the hole‐transporting characteristics of ETLs also play an important role since holes need to be injected from electrode through ETLs to refill the depleted HGLs in the positive half of the AC cycle. As a result, the best FIPEL device exhibits exceptional performance: a low turn‐on voltage of 12 V, a maximum luminance of 20 500 cd m^?2, a maximum current and power efficiency of 110.7 cd A^?1 and 29.3 lm W^?1. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the highest report to date among FIPEL devices driven by AC voltage.     

Ultrafast Hole‐Transfer Dynamics in Polymer/PCBM Bulk Heterojunctions

Ultrafast dynamics of the hole‐transfer process from methanofullerene to a polymer in a polymer/PCBM bulk heterojunction are directly resolved. Injection of holes into MDMO‐PPV is markedly delayed with respect to [60]PCBM excitation. The fastest component of the delayed response is attributed to the PCBM–polymer hole‐transfer process (30 ± 10 fs), while the slower component (～150 fs) is provisionally assigned to energy transfer and/or relaxation inside PCBM nanoclusters. The charge generation through the hole transfer is therefore as fast and efficient as through the electron‐transfer process. Exciton harvesting efficiency after PCBM excitation crucially depends on the concentration of the methanofullerene in the blend, which is related to changes in the blend morphology. Ultrafast charge generation is most efficient when the characteristic scale of phase separation in the blend does not exceed ～20 nm. At larger‐scale phase separation, the exciton harvesting dramatically declines. The obtained results on the time scales of the ultrafast charge generation after PCBM excitation and their dependence on blend composition and morphology are instrumental for the future design of fullerene‐derivative‐based photovoltaic devices.     

Effects of Mechanical Strain on Characteristics of Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistors Fabricated on Stainless Steel Foil

The effects of uniaxial tensile strain on the performance of polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) is reported. Longitudinal strain increases the electron mobility and decreases the hole mobility, while transverse strain decreases the electron mobility and slightly decreases the hole mobility. Under longitudinal strain the off current decreases for both NMOS and PMOS TFTs and shifts in threshold voltage and substhreshold slope are observed for p-channel TFTs. A strong dependence on channel length for both electron and hole mobilities under longitudinal strain indicates the presence of a series resistance. For poly-Si TFTs, the mobility changes under strains are related to the strain effects on single crystalline silicon devices.      

Theory of the doped quantum well superlattice APD: A new solid-state photomultiplier

A new superlattice avalanche photodiode structure consisting of repeated unit cells formed from a p-i-n Al0.45Ga0.55As region immediately followed by near intrinsic GaAs and Al0.45Ga0.55As layers is examined using an ensemble Monte Carlo calculation. The effects of various device parameters, such as the high-field layer width, GaAs well width, low-field AlGaAs layer width, and applied electric field on the electron and hole ionization coefficients is analyzed. In addition, the fraction of electrons which ionize in a spatially deterministic way, at the same place in each stage of the device, is determined. As is well known, completely noiseless amplification can be achieved if each electron ionizes in each stage of the device at precisely the same location while no holes ionize anywhere within the device. A comparison is made between the doped quantum well device and other existing superlattice APD's such as the quantum well and staircase APD's. It is seen that the doped quantum well device most nearly approximates photomultiplier-like behavior when applied to the GaAs/AlGaAs material system amongst the three devices. In addition, it is determined that none of the devices, when made from GaAs and AlGaAs, fully mimic ideal photomultiplier-like performance. As the fraction of electron ionizations per stage of the device is increased, through variations in the device geometry and applied electric field, the hole ionization rate invariably increases. It is expected that ideal performance can be more closely achieved in a material system in which the conduction band edge discontinuity is a greater fraction of the band gap energy in the narrow-band gap semiconductor.     

Star-Shaped Organic Semiconductor with Extraordinary Thermomechanical Property and Solution Processability for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

Achieving the desired thermomechanical properties for highly solution-processable organic semiconductors is challenging but crucial for heat tolerance of emerging optoelectronic devices. To this end, the successful synthesis of triphenylene–ethylenedioxythiophene-dimethoxytriphenylamine (TP–ETPA), a star-shaped organic semiconductor, is reported through a direct arylation reaction that involves ETPA, an electron donor, being grafted densely onto TP, which possesses six electron-equivalent functionalization sites. Remarkably, TP–ETPA exhibits significantly improved hole mobility compared to 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) at a given hole density, owing to its lower energetic disorder, larger average centroid distance, and smaller reorganization energy. TP–ETPA, with a molecular weight of 2888 Da and lacking flexible chains, demonstrates extraordinary solubility in nonpolar solvents, enabling the formation of dense, pinhole-free films through solution codeposition with an air-doping promoter. By utilizing the p-doped TP–ETPA composite as the hole transport layer, perovskite solar cells with an average power conversion efficiency of 23.4% are successfully fabricated. Notably, these devices display significantly enhanced operational stability and thermal stability at 85 °C. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the TP–ETPA-based hole transport layer possesses a high cohesive energy density, resulting in a large elastic modulus and slow diffusion of external species.     

Hole trap generation in the gate oxide due to plasma-inducedcharging

The paper presents results of hole trapping studies in-thin gate oxide of plasma damaged MOS transistors. Process-induced damage was investigated with antenna test structures to enhance the effect of plasma charging. In addition to neutral electron traps and passivated interface damage, which are commonly observed plasma charging latent damage, we observed and identified hole traps, generated by plasma stress. The amount of hole traps increases with increasing antenna ratio, indicating that the mechanism of hole trap generation is based on electrical stress and current flow, forced through the oxide during plasma etching. The density of hole traps in the most damaged devices was found to be larger than that in reference, undamaged devices by about 100%     

碳纳米管超晶格结构能隙的第一性原理研究

本文采用基于密度泛函理论的CASTEP模块研究了B/N共掺(5,5)碳纳米管环超晶格的电子结构。形成能计算结果为负值表明,B/N原子对共掺碳纳米管环具有稳定存在的可能性。能带结构和态密度结果表明,B/N原子对的掺入使得(5,5)金属型碳纳米管能隙打开,导电性质向半导体转变。当管径在合理的变化范围内,纯碳纳米管的能隙宽度强烈敏感于管径的变化,而B/N共掺碳纳米管环结构的能隙值随管径的变化较小,这就降低了碳纳米管电子器件的制备要求。对新型结构施加变形作用,压缩变形使得B/N共掺碳纳米管环的能带宽度增大,这相当于提高了碳纳米管的掺杂体积浓度;拉伸变形作用下所得结论恰恰相反。实现控制碳纳米管超晶格结构的导电性能,对纳米管电子器件的应用具有重要意义。     

Intraband Cooling in All‐Inorganic and Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Perovskite Nanocrystals

Intraband relaxation in all‐inorganic cesium lead tribromide (CsPbBr₃) and hybrid organic–inorganic formamidinium lead tribromide (FAPbBr₃) nanocrystals is experimentally investigated for a range of particle sizes, excitation energies, sample temperatures, and excitation fluences. Hot carriers in CsPbBr₃ nanocrystals consistently exhibit slower cooling than FAPbBr₃ nanocrystals in the single electron–hole pair per nanocrystal regime. In both compositions, long‐lived hot carriers (>3 ps) are only observed at excitation densities corresponding to production of multiple electron–hole pairs per nanocrystal—and concomitant Auger recombination. These presented results are distinct from previous reports in bulk hybrid perovskite materials that convey persistent hot carriers at low excitation fluences. Time‐resolved photoluminescence confirms the rapid cooling of carriers in the low‐fluence (single electron–hole pair per nanocrystal) regime. Intraband relaxation processes, as a function of excitation energy, size, and temperature are broadly consistent with other nanocrystalline semiconductor materials.     

Does Excess Energy Assist Photogeneration in an Organic Low‐Bandgap Solar Cell?

The field dependence of the photocurrent in a bilayer assembly is measured with the aim to clarify the role of excess photon energy in an organic solar cell comprising a polymeric donor and an acceptor. Upon optical excitation of the donor an electron is transferred to the acceptor forming a Coulomb‐bound electron–hole pair. Since the subsequent escape is a field assisted process it follows that photogeneration saturates at higher electric fields, the saturation field being a measure of the separation of the electron–hole pair. Using the low bandgap polymers, PCDTBT and PCPDTBT, as donors and C₆₀ as acceptor in a bilayer assembly it is found that the saturation field decreases when the photon energy is roughly 0.5 eV above the S₁–S₀ 0–0 transition of the donor. This translates into an increase of the size of the electron‐hole‐pair up to about 13 nm which is close to the Coulomb capture radius. This increase correlates with the onset of higher electronic states that have a highly delocalized character, as confirmed by quantum‐chemical calculations. This demonstrates that accessing higher electronic states does favor photogeneration yet excess vibrational energy plays no role. Experiments on intrinsic photogeneration in donor photodiodes without acceptors support this reasoning.     

Recent advances and prospects of asymmetric non-fullerene small molecule acceptors for polymer solar cells

Recently,polymer solar cells developed very fast due to the application of non-fullerence acceptors.Substituting asym-metric small molecules for symmetric small molecule acceptors in the photoactive layer is a strategy to improve the perform-ance of polymer solar cells.The asymmetric design of the molecule is very beneficial for exciton dissociation and charge trans-port and will also fine-tune the molecular energy level to adjust the open-circuit voltage (Voc) further.The influence on the ab-sorption range and absorption intensity will cause the short-circuit current density (Jsc) to change,resulting in higher device per-formance.The effect on molecular aggregation and molecular stacking of asymmetric structures can directly change the micro-scopic morphology,phase separation size,and the active layer's crystallinity.Very recently,thanks to the ingenious design of act-ive layer materials and the optimization of devices,asymmetric non-fullerene polymer solar cells (A-NF-PSCs) have achieved re-markable development.In this review,we have summarized the latest developments in asymmetric small molecule acceptors(A-NF-SMAs) with the acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) and/or acceptor-donor-acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A-D-A) struc-tures,and the advantages of asymmetric small molecules are explored from the aspects of charge transport,molecular energy level and active layer accumulation morphology.