Boosted Photocurrent via Heating BiFeo3 Thin Film for UV Photodetector at Wide Temperature Range

The current research on ferroelectric photovoltaic materials is concentrated on enhancing the output photocurrent. As solar cells operate at high temperatures, it is crucial to take into account the effect of increasing temperatures on ferroelectric photovoltaics. In this study, an LNO (lanthanum nickelate, LaNiO₃)/BFO (bismuth ferrate, BiFeO₃)/ITO (indium tin oxide) device is constructed on a mica substrate by sol–gel method. The device achieves output photocurrent enhancement at a wide temperature range (33–183 °C), with the largest photocurrent enhancement at 130 °C, which is 178% relative to room temperature, and the output power is also increased by 9.88 times. At the same time, compared with BFO bulk, it is found that the performance of BFO film is always higher than that of bulk in the test temperature range, and the output photocurrent of BFO film at room temperature is 104 times higher than that of bulk. This article investigates the effect of high temperatures on ferroelectric photovoltaics and also provides a strategy for enhancing the photovoltaic performance of ferroelectric films, providing guidance for future applications of ferroelectric films in flexible solar cells and other applications.     

Photoluminescence Enhancement in Formamidinium Lead Iodide Thin Films

Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI₃) has a broader absorption spectrum and better thermal stability than the most famous methylammonium lead iodide, thus exhibiting great potential for photovoltaic applications. In this report, the light‐induced photoluminescence (PL) evolution in FAPbI₃ thin films is investigated. The PL intensity evolution is found to be strongly dependent on the atmosphere surrounding the samples. When the film is exposed to air, its photoluminescence intensity is enhanced more than 140 times after continuous ultraviolet laser illumination for 2 h, and the average lifetime is prolonged from 17 to 389 ns. The enhanced photoluminescence implies that the trap density is significantly reduced. The comparative study of the photoluminescence properties in air, nitrogen, and oxygen/helium environment suggests that moisture is important for the PL enhancement. This is explained in terms of moisture‐assisted light‐healing effect in FAPbI₃ thin films. With this study, a new method is demonstrated to increase and control the quality of hybrid perovskite thin films.     

Novel and Enhanced Optoelectronic Performances of Multilayer MoS2–WS2 Heterostructure Transistors

Van der Waals heterostructures designed by assembling isolated two‐dimensional (2D) crystals have emerged as a new class of artificial materials with interesting and unusual physical properties. Here, the multilayer MoS₂–WS₂ heterostructures with different configurations are reported and their optoelectronic properties are studied. It is shown that the new heterostructured material possesses new functionalities and superior electrical and optoelectronic properties that far exceed the one for their constituents, MoS₂ or WS₂. The vertical transistor exhibits a novel rectifying and bipolar behavior, and can also act as photovoltaic cell and self‐driven photodetector with photo‐switching ratio exceeding 10³. The planar device also exhibits high field‐effect ON/OFF ratio (>10⁵), high electron mobility of 65 cm²/Vs, and high photo­responsivity of 1.42 A/W compared to that in isolated multilayer MoS₂ or WS₂ nanoflake transistors. The results suggest that formation of MoS₂–WS₂ heterostructures could significantly enhance the performance of optoelectronic devices, thus open up possibilities for future nanoelectronic, photovoltaic, and optoelectronic applications.     

Enhanced Fill Factor and Power Conversion Efficiency of Single Oxide Ferroelectric Photovoltaic Devices with Designed Nanostructures

The ferroelectric photovoltaic effect has promising potential for the next generation of solar cells. However, due to disadvantages such as wide bandgap and low fill factor (FF), the power conversion efficiency (PCE) values reported in ferroelectric photovoltaic devices remain considerably below expectations. Herein, enhanced photovoltaic effect in the films with the nanostructure of ferroelectric nanocrystalline particles embedded in the amorphous or poor crystalline matrix is investigated. The nanostructures are realized by controlled crystallization and doping in Zn_0.92-xCu_x(Fe_0.04Li_0.04)O (ZCFLO) films. Benefiting from the improved carrier dynamic regulation in ferroelectric/boundary nanostructures and narrowed bandgap, the designed ZCFLO photoferroelectrics films exhibit high efficiency photovoltaic effect under AM 1.5G light, manifesting above-bandgap photovoltage, markedly improved FF (83.4%), switchable photoresponse (50.3 mA W⁻¹), and high PCE (14.4%). Meanwhile, the simple method presented in this work is fully compatible with large-scale manufacturing processes and may find applications in cost-efficiency optoelectronic devices.     

Highly Efficient Indoor Organic Photovoltaics with Spectrally Matched Fluorinated Phenylene‐Alkoxybenzothiadiazole‐Based Wide Bandgap Polymers

The unique electro‐optical features of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have led to their use in applications that focus on indoor energy harvesters. Various adoptable photoactive materials with distinct spectral absorption windows offer enormous potential for their use under various indoor light sources. An in‐depth study on the performance optimization of indoor OPVs is conducted using various photoactive materials with different spectral absorption ranges. Among the materials, the fluorinated phenylene‐alkoxybenzothiadiazole‐based wide bandgap polymer—poly[(5,6‐bis(2‐hexyldecyloxy)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole‐4,7‐diyl)‐alt‐(5,50‐(2,5‐difluoro‐1,4‐phenylene)bis(thiophen‐2‐yl))] (PDTBTBz‐2F_anti)‐contained photoactive layer—exhibits a superior spectrum matching with indoor lights, particularly a light‐emitting diode (LED), which results in an excellent power absorption ratio. These optical properties contribute to the state‐of‐the‐art performance of the PDTBTBz‐2F_anti:[6,6]‐phenyl‐C₇₁ butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM)‐based OPV with an unprecedented high power‐conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.1% under a 1000 lx LED. Finally, its indoor photovoltaic performance is observed to be better than that of an interdigitated‐back‐contact‐based silicon photovoltaic (PCE of 16.3%).     

Effect of Annealing Temperature on Film Morphology of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Pervoskite Solid‐State Solar Cells

Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites have attracted attention as successful light harvesting materials for mesoscopic solid‐state solar cells and led to record breaking efficiencies. The photovoltaic performance of these devices is greatly dependent on the film morphology, which in turn is dependent on the deposition techniques and subsequent treatments employed. In this work the perovskite film is deposited by spin‐coating a precursor solution of PbCl₂ and CH₃NH₃I (1 to 3 molar ratio) in dimethylformamide. Here, the role of the temperature used in the annealing process required to convert the as deposited solution into the perovskite material is investigated. It is found that the conversion requires sufficiently high temperatures to ensure the vaporization of solvent and the crystallization of the perovskite material. However, increasing the annealing temperature too high leads to the additional formation of PbI₂, which is detrimental to the photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, the effect of the annealing temperature on the film formation, morphology, and composition is examined and correlated with the photovoltaic performance and device working mechanisms.     

Optoelectronics based on 2D TMDs and heterostructures

2D materials including graphene and TMDs have proven interesting physical properties and promising optoelectronic applications. We reviewed the growth, characterization and optoelectronics based on 2D TMDs and their heterostructures, and demonstrated their unique and high quality of performances. For example, we observed the large mobility, fast response and high photo-responsivity in MoS₂, WS₂ and WSe₂ phototransistors, as well as the novel performances in vdW heterostructures such as the strong interlayer coupling, am-bipolar and rectifying behaviour, and the obvious photovoltaic effect. It is being possible that 2D family materials could play an increasingly important role in the future nano- and opto-electronics, more even than traditional semiconductors such as silicon.     

Multifunctional Lateral Transition‐Metal Disulfides Heterojunctions

The intrinsic spin‐dependent transport properties of two types of lateral VS₂|MoS₂ heterojunctions are systematically investigated using first‐principles calculations, and their various nanodevices with novel properties are designed. The lateral VS₂|MoS₂ heterojunction diodes show a perfect rectifying effect and are promising for the applications of Schottky diodes. A large spin‐polarization ratio is observed for the A‐type device and pure spin‐mediated current is then realized. The gate voltage significantly tunes the current and rectification ratio of their field‐effect transistors. In addition, they all demonstrate a sensitive photoresponse to blue light, and could be used as photodetector and photovoltaic device. Moreover, they generate an effective thermally driven current when a temperature gratitude appears between the two terminals, suggesting them as potential thermoelectric materials. Hence, the lateral VS₂|MoS₂ heterojunctions show a multifunctional nature and have various potential applications in spintronics, optoelectronics, and spin caloritronics.     

Impedance Measurements as a Simple Tool to Control the Quality of Conjugated Polymers Designed for Photovoltaic Applications

The problem of batch‐to‐batch variation of electronic properties and purity of conjugated polymers used as electron donor and photon harvesting materials in organic solar cells is addressed. A simple method is developed for rapid analysis of electronic quality of polymer‐based materials. It is shown that appearance of impurities capable of charge trapping changes electrophysical properties of conjugated polymers. In particular, a clear correlation between the effective relaxation time τeff and relative photovoltaic performance (η/η_max) is revealed for samples of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) intentionally polluted with a palladium catalyst. This dependence is also valid for all other investigated samples of conjugated polymers. Therefore, fast impedance measurements at three different frequencies allow one to draw conclusions about the purity of the analyzed polymer sample and even estimate its photovoltaic performance. The developed method might find extensive applications as a simple tool for product quality control in the laboratory and industrial‐scale production of conjugated polymers for electronic applications.     

High Responsivity Phototransistors Based on Few‐Layer ReS2 for Weak Signal Detection

2D transition metal dichalcogenides are emerging with tremendous potential in many optoelectronic applications due to their strong light–matter interactions. To fully explore their potential in photoconductive detectors, high responsivity is required. Here, high responsivity phototransistors based on few‐layer rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) are presented. Depending on the back gate voltage, source drain bias and incident optical light intensity, the maximum attainable photoresponsivity can reach as high as 88 600 A W^?1, which is a record value compared to other individual 2D materials with similar device structures and two orders of magnitude higher than that of monolayer MoS₂. Such high photoresponsivity is attributed to the increased light absorption as well as the gain enhancement due to the existence of trap states in the few‐layer ReS₂ flakes. It further enables the detection of weak signals, as successfully demonstrated with weak light sources including a lighter and limited fluorescent lighting. Our studies underscore ReS₂ as a promising material for future sensitive optoelectronic applications.     

Recent Progress of Bismuth Effect on All-Inorganic Lead-Free Metal Halide Derivatives: Crystals Structure,Luminescence Properties,and Applications

Bismuth (Bi³⁺)-included lead-free metal halide (LFMH) materials attract much attention in lighting, display, photodetectors, X-ray detectors, and photovoltaic fields, due to the tunable luminescence and optoelectronic performance in response to crystal and electronic structure, morphology, and particle sizes. This review summarizes Bi³⁺-included LFMH materials about their preparation approach, crystal and electronic structure properties, luminescence performance, and emerging applications. Notably, Bi³⁺ ions not only can act as framework cation to construct stable LFMH structure, but can also incorporate into LFMH materials as activators or sensitizers to generate remarkable luminescence tuning and band engineering. The Bi³⁺ effect on the luminescence and optoelectronic properties of LFMH materials, including, promotion of exciton localization, enhancement of light absorption in near-ultraviolet region, action as sensitizer ions to transfer energy to rare earth or transition metal ions and emission of highly-efficient light is systematically summarized. The proposed structure-luminescence relationship offers guidance for the optimization of current Bi³⁺-included LFMH materials and the exploitation of new LFMH derivatives.     

Open-circuit voltage up to 1.07 V for solution processed small molecule based organic solar cells

With the goal of increasing the open-circuit voltage, two new solution-processable A–D–A structure small molecule donor materials, named DCAO3TF and DCAO3TCz, using two weak electron-donating units, fluorene and carbazole as the central block have been designed and synthesized for photovoltaic applications. While bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices based on DCAO3TF:PC₆₁BM and DCAO3TCz:PC₆₁BM as the active layers exhibit moderate power conversion efficiencies of 2.38% and 3.63%, respectively, devices based on DCAO3TF:PC₆₁BM do exhibit an impressively high open-circuit voltage (V_oc) up to 1.07 V, which is one of the highest V_oc in organic solar cells based on donor:PCBM blend films.     

Materials Discovery of Stable and Nontoxic Halide Perovskite Materials for High‐Efficiency Solar Cells

Two critical limitations of organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite materials for solar cells are their poor stability in humid environments and inclusion of toxic lead. In this study, high‐throughput density functional theory (DFT) methods are used to computationally model and screen 1845 halide perovskites in search of new materials without these limitations that are promising for solar cell applications. This study focuses on finding materials that are comprised of nontoxic elements, stable in a humid operating environment, and have an optimal bandgap for one of single junction, tandem Si‐perovskite, or quantum dot–based solar cells. Single junction materials are also screened on predicted single junction photovoltaic (PV) efficiencies exceeding 22.7%, which is the current highest reported PV efficiency for halide perovskites. Generally, these methods qualitatively reproduce the properties of known promising nontoxic halide perovskites that are either experimentally evaluated or predicted from theory. From a set of 1845 materials, 15 materials pass all screening criteria for single junction cell applications, 13 of which are not previously investigated, such as (CH₃NH₃)_0.75Cs_0.25SnI₃, ((NH₂)₂CH)Ag_0.5Sb_0.5Br₃, CsMn_0.875Fe_0.125I₃, ((CH₃)₂NH₂)Ag_0.5Bi_0.5I₃, and ((NH₂)₂CH)_0.5Rb_0.5SnI₃. These materials, together with others predicted in this study, may be promising candidate materials for stable, highly efficient, and nontoxic perovskite‐based solar cells.     

High‐Performance Hazy Silver Nanowire Transparent Electrodes through Diameter Tailoring for Semitransparent Photovoltaics

Solution‐processed metal nanowire networks have attracted substantial attention as clear transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs) to replace metal oxides for low‐cost and flexible touch panels and displays. While targeting photovoltaic applications, TCEs are expected to be more hazy for enhancing light absorption in the active layer, but are still required to retain high transmittance and low sheet resistance. Balancing these properties (haze, transmittance, and conductivity) in TCEs to realize high performance but high haze simultaneously is a challenge because they are mutually influenced. Here, by precisely tailoring the diameter of thick–long silver nanowires using rapid radial electrochemical etching, high hazy flexible TCEs are fabricated with high figure of merit of up to 741 (4 Ω sq^?1 at 88.4% transmittance with haze of 13.3%), surpassing those of commercialized brittle hazy metal oxides and exhibiting superiority for photovoltaic applications. Laminating such TCEs onto the perovskite solar cells as top electrodes, the obtained semitransparent devices exhibit power efficiencies up to 16.03% and 11.12% when illuminated from the bottom and top sides, respectively, outperforming reported results based on similar device architecture. This study provides a simple strategy for flexible and hazy TCEs fabrication, which is compatible with mild solution‐processed photovoltaic devices, especially those containing heat‐sensitive or chemical‐sensitive materials.     

Aerosol‐Synthesis of Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles with Highly Reactive,Superacidic Surfaces Comprising Sulfonic Acid Entities

Combining high internal surface area with tailor‐made surface properties is pivotal for granting advanced functional properties in many areas like heterogeneous catalysis, electrode materials, membranes, or also biomimetics. In this respect, organic‐inorganic hybrid nanostructures and in particular mesoporous organosilica materials are ideal systems. Here, the preparation of mesoporous solids via a new sol–gel building block comprising sulfonic acid (R‐SO₃H) is described. The degree of organic modification is not only maximal (100%), it is also proven that the novel material exhibits superacid properties. Furthermore, an aerosol assisted method is applied for generating this material in the form of mesoporous, spherical nanoparticles with substantial colloidal stability. Highly acidic, high surface area materials, like prepared here, are promising candidates for numerous future applications like in heterogeneous catalysis or for proton conducting membranes. However, first experiments addressing the antibacterial effect of the sulfonic‐acid, mesoporous organosilica materials are shown. It is demonstrated that the superacid character is required for exhibiting sufficient antifouling activity.     

Self‐Assembled Room Temperature Multiferroic BiFeO3‐LiFe5O8 Nanocomposites

Multiferroic materials have driven significant research interest due to their promising technological potential. Developing new room‐temperature multiferroics and understanding their fundamental properties are important to reveal unanticipated physical phenomena and potential applications. Here, a new room temperature multiferroic nanocomposite comprised of an ordered ferrimagnetic spinel α‐LiFe₅O₈ (LFO) and a ferroelectric perovskite BiFeO₃ (BFO) is presented. It is observed that lithium (Li)‐doping in BFO favors the formation of LFO spinel as a secondary phase during the synthesis of Li_xBi_1?xFeO₃ ceramics. Multimodal functional and chemical imaging methods are used to map the relationship between doping‐induced phase separation and local ferroic properties in both the BFO‐LFO composite ceramics and self‐assembled nanocomposite thin films. The energetics of phase separation in Li doped BFO and the formation of BFO‐LFO composites are supported by first principles calculations. These findings shed light on Li's role in the formation of a functionally important room temperature multiferroic and open a new approach in the synthesis of light element doped nanocomposites for future energy, sensing, and memory applications.     

Photoelectric Effects in Single Domain BiFeO3 Crystals

Energy harvesting from sunlight is essential in order to save fossil fuels, which are found in limited amount in the earth's crust. Photovoltaic devices converting light into electrical energy are presently made of semiconducting materials, but ferroelectrics are also natural candidates because of their internal built‐in electric field. Although they are clearly uncompetitive for mainstream applications, the possibility to output high photovoltages is making these materials reconsidered for targeted applications. However, their intrinsic properties regarding electronic transport and the origin of their internal field are poorly known. Here, it is demonstrated that under intense illumination and electric field, oxygen vacancies can be controllably generated in BiFeO₃ to dramatically increase the conductance of BiFeO₃ single crystals to a controllable value spanning 6 orders of magnitude while at the same time triggering light sensitivity in the form of photoconductivity, diode, and photovoltaic effects. Properties of the bulk and the Schottky interfaces with gold contacts are disentangled and it is shown that bulk effects are time dependent. The photocurrent has a direction that can be set by an applied field without changing the ferroelectric polarization direction. The self‐doping procedure is found to be essential in both the generation of electron hole pairs and the establishment of the internal field that separates them.     

Pyrite‐Based Bi‐Functional Layer for Long‐Term Stability and High‐Performance of Organo‐Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

Organo‐lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have received great attention because of their optimized optical and electrical properties for solar cell applications. Recently, a dramatic increase in the photovoltaic performance of PSCs with organic hole transport materials (HTMs) has been reported. However, as of now, future commercialization can be hampered because the stability of PSCs with organic HTM has not been guaranteed for long periods under conventional working conditions, including moist conditions. Furthermore, conventional organic HTMs are normally expensive because material synthesis and purification are complicated. It is herein reported, for the first time, octadecylamine‐capped pyrite nanoparticles (ODA‐FeS₂ NPs) as a bi‐functional layer (charge extraction layer and moisture‐proof layer) for organo‐lead halide PSCs. FeS₂ is a promising candidate for the HTM of PSCs because of its high conductivity and suitable energy levels for hole extraction. A bi‐functional layer based on ODA‐FeS₂ NPs shows excellent hole transport ability and moisture‐proof performance. Through this approach, the best‐performing device with ODA‐FeS₂ NPs‐based bi‐functional layer shows a power conversion efficiency of 12.6% and maintains stable photovoltaic performance in 50% relative humidity for 1000 h. As a result, this study has the potential to break through the barriers for the commercialization of PSCs.     

Structural and optoelectronic properties of hybrid halide perovskites for solar cells

Trihalide perovskites are an emerging class of materials, which have shown excellent performance so far in solution-processed optoelectronic devices such as perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The energy band gap (E_gap) of this class of materials is tunable and can be varied from 1.5 eV to 2.3 eV by changing its chemical composition, exhibiting a promising character to design versatile optoelectronic devices. It is thus, imperative to understand the relation between structural and optoelectronic properties of the perovskite-based materials offering intrinsic complexity. Hence, different interactions, defects as well as structural disorder have a defining role in the material properties. The intrinsic properties have been shown to have a significant impact on the performance of these perovskite materials. These properties include high dielectric constants, ambipolar transport features of long range, low exciton binding energies, and ferroelectric polarizations. In the current review, we briefly explore the crystal structure of the perovskite materials at atomistic-level and draw a comparison of the basic optical and electrical properties originating from particular atomic compositions together with their arrangements therein, and moreover, their applications in future optoelectronic devices are elaborated upon.     

Accelerating the Screening of Perovskite Compositions for Photovoltaic Applications through High‐Throughput Inkjet Printing

The exploration and optimization of numerous mixed perovskite compositions are causing a strong demand for high‐throughput synthesis. Nevertheless high‐throughput fabrication of perovskite films with representative film properties, which can efficiently screen the perovskite compositions for photovoltaic applications, has rarely been explored. A high‐throughput inkjet printing approach that can automatically fabricate perovskite films with various compositions with high reproducibility and high speed is developed. The automatic sequential printing of four precursors forms 25 mixed films in a fast and reproducible manner. The obtained bandgaps, photoluminescence (PL) peak positions, and PL lifetimes allow for the efficient screening of perovskite compositions for photovoltaic applications. To exemplify this concept, among 25 tested films, two compositions CH₃NH₃PbBr_0.75I_2.25 (MA) and (HC(NH₂)₂)_0.75(CH₃NH₃)_0.25PbBr_0.75I_2.25 (FA_0.75MA_0.25) with a long (237 ns) and short (49.0 ns) PL lifetime, respectively, are screened out for device investigations. As expected, the MA‐based device exhibits a much higher efficiency (19.0%) than that (15.3%) of the FA_0.75MA_0.25 counterpart. This efficiency improvement is mainly ascribed to a smaller dark saturate current density, a lower level of energetic disorder, more efficient charge transfer and decreased charge recombination losses, which are consistent with the much longer PL lifetime in the database.