10.5% efficient polymer and amorphous silicon hybrid tandem photovoltaic cell

Observation of resonant exciton and correlated plasmon yielding correlated plexciton in amorphous silicon with various hydrogen content

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si: H) has received great attention for rich fundamental physics and potentially inexpensive solar cells. Here, we observe new resonant excitons and correlated plasmons tunable via hydrogen content in a-Si: H films on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) substrate. Spectroscopic ellipsometry supported with High Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM) is used to probe optical properties and the density of electronic states in the various crystallinity from nano-size crystals to amorphous a-Si: H films. The observed optical and electronic structures are analyzed by the second derivative with analytic critical-point line shapes. The complex dielectric function shows good agreement with microscopic calculations for the energy shift and the broadening inter-band transitions based on the electron-hole interaction. Interestingly, we observe an unusual spectral weight transfer over a broad energy range revealing electronic correlations that cause a drastic change in the charge carrier density and determine the photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, the interplay of resonant excitons and correlated plasmons is discussed in term of a correlated plexciton. Our result shows the important role of hydrogen in determining the coupling of excitons and plasmons in a-Si: H film for photovoltaic devices.

Optical characterization of deuterated silicon-rich nitride waveguides

Chemical vapor deposition-based growth techniques allow flexible design of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible materials. Here, we report the deuterated silicon-rich nitride films grown using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The linear and nonlinear properties of the films are characterized, and we experimentally confirm that the silicon-rich nitride films grown with SiD₄ eliminates Si–H and N–H related absorption. The performance of identical waveguides for films grown with SiH₄ and SiD₄ are compared demonstrating a 2 dB/cm improvement in line with that observed in literature. Waveguides fabricated on the SRN:D film are further shown to possess a nonlinear parameter of 95 W⁻¹ m⁻¹, with the film exhibiting a linear and nonlinear refractive index of 2.46 and 9.8 \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\times$$\end{document}× 10^–18 m²W⁻¹ respectively.

A Review on the Materials Science and Device Physics of Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics

In this review, the current state of materials science and the device physics of semitransparent organic solar cells is summarized. Relevant synthetic strategies to narrow the band gap of organic semiconducting molecules are outlined, and recent developments in the polymer donor and near-infrared absorbing acceptor materials are discussed. Next, an overview of transparent electrodes is given, including oxides, multi-stacks, thin metal, and solution processed electrodes, as well as considerations that are unique to ST-OPVs. The remainder of this review focuses on the device engineering of ST-OPVs. The figures of merit and the theoretical limitations of ST-OPVs are covered, as well as strategies to improve the light utilization efficiency. Lastly, the importance of creating an in-depth understanding of the device physics of ST-OPVs is emphasized and the existing works that answer fundamental questions about the inherent changes in the optoelectronic processes in transparent devices are presented in a condensed way. This last part outlines the changes that are unique for devices with increased transparency and the resulting implications, serving as a point of reference for the systematic development of next-generation ST-OPVs.

Novel Polymer-Based Organic/c-Si Monolithic Tandem Solar Cell: Enhanced Efficiency using Interlayer and Transparent Top Electrode Engineering

Tandem solar cells which are electrically connected with various photoactive materials have the potential to solve the current challenges by exceeding the theoretically limited efficiency of single junction solar cells. Here the first monolithic organic/silicon tandem cell is reported based on a semitransparent polymer on a crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrate. Herein, experimental results are presented for four-terminal (4-T) and monolithic two-terminal (2-T) organic/c-Si tandem cells using organic cells with an inverted n-i-p structure and c-Si cells with an n-type TOPCon structure with detailed analysis. The best 4-T tandem cell efficiency is 15.22%, and 2-T results show that the top (organic) and bottom (c-Si) cells are electrically connected by an open-circuit voltage over 1.4 V. Further, a simulated efficiency of over 20% using the organic/c-Si tandem is achieved, implying the tandem efficiency can be enhanced through further improvement of electric and optical characteristics with the optimization.

Recent Progress in Interconnection Layer for Hybrid Photovoltaic Tandems

Hybrid tandem solar cells offer the benefits of low cost and full solar spectrum utilization. Among the hybrid tandem structures explored to date, the most popular ones have four (simple stacking design) or two (terminal/tunneling layer addition design) terminal electrodes. Although the latter design is more cost-effective than the former, its widespread application is hindered by the difficulty of preparing an interface between two solar cell materials. The oldest approach to the in-series bonding of two or more bandgap solar cells relies on the introduction of a tunneling layer in multijunction III-V solar cells, but it has some limitations, e.g., the related materials/technologies are applicable only to III-V and certain other solar cells. Thus, alternative methods of realizing junction contacts based on the use of novel materials are highly sought after. Here, the strategies used to realize high-performance tandem cells are described, focusing on interface control in terms of bonding two or more solar cells for tandem approaches. The presented information is expected to aid the establishment of ideal methods of connecting two or more solar cells to obtain the highest performance for different solar cell choices with minimized energy loss through the interface.

Solution-Processed Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics: From Molecular Design to Device Performance

Recent research efforts on solution-processed semitransparent organic solar cells (OSCs) are presented. Essential properties of organic donor:acceptor bulk heterojunction blends and electrode materials, required for the combination of simultaneous high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and average visible transmittance of photovoltaic devices, are presented from the materials science and device engineering points of view. Aspects of optical perception, charge generation-recombination, and extraction processes relevant for semitransparent OSCs are also discussed in detail. Furthermore, the theoretical limits of PCE for fully transparent OSCs, compared to the performance of the best reported semitransparent OSCs, and options for further optimization are discussed.

High-performance perovskite/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 monolithic tandem solar cells

The combination of hybrid perovskite and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) has the potential for realizing high-efficiency thin-film tandem solar cells because of the complementary tunable bandgaps and excellent photovoltaic properties of these materials. In tandem solar device architectures, the interconnecting layer plays a critical role in determining the overall cell performance, requiring both an effective electrical connection and high optical transparency. We used nanoscale interface engineering of the CIGS surface and a heavily doped poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] (PTAA) hole transport layer between the subcells that preserves open-circuit voltage and enhances both the fill factor and short-circuit current. A monolithic perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cell achieved a 22.43% efficiency, and unencapsulated devices under ambient conditions maintained 88% of their initial efficiency after 500 hours of aging under continuous 1-sun illumination.

Crystallization of supercooled fenofibrate studied at ambient and elevated pressures

Investigation of the thermodynamic history in the T,p-plane of the crystallization process of a supercooled liquid.

Efficiency improvement using bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonamide lithium salt as a chemical additive in porphyrin based organic solar cells

Two new conjugated acceptor-π-donor-π-acceptor (A-π-D-π-A) porphyrins have been synthesised using 3-ethylrhodanine (1a) or dicyanovinylene (1b) groups as acceptor units. Their optical and electrochemical properties made these materials excellent electron donors along with PC₇₁BM as the acceptor for solution-processed bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. The devices based on 1a:PC₇₁BM (1 : 2) and 1b:PC₇₁BM (1 : 2) processed with CB showed low power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 2.30% and 2.80%, respectively. Nonetheless, after processing the active layer using a mixture of 3 vol% of a pyridine additive in THF, the PCE was enhanced up to 5.14% and 6.06% for 1a:PC₇₁BM and 1b:PC₇₁BM, respectively. Moreover, when we used LiTFSI as the chemical additive in pyridine/CB-processed 1b:PC₇₁BM an excellent PCE of 7.63% was recorded. The effects over the film morphology and the device characteristics (J_sc, V_oc and FF) due to the introduction of LiTFSI are discussed.

Organic Optoelectronic Materials: Mechanisms and Applications

Organic (opto)electronic materials have received considerable attention due to their applications in thin-film-transistors, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, sensors, photorefractive devices, and many others. The technological promises include low cost of these materials and the possibility of their room-temperature deposition from solution on large-area and/or flexible substrates. The article reviews the current understanding of the physical mechanisms that determine the (opto)electronic properties of high-performance organic materials. The focus of the review is on photoinduced processes and on electronic properties important for optoelectronic applications relying on charge carrier photogeneration. Additionally, it highlights the capabilities of various experimental techniques for characterization of these materials, summarizes top-of-the-line device performance, and outlines recent trends in the further development of the field. The properties of materials based both on small molecules and on conjugated polymers are considered, and their applications in organic solar cells, photodetectors, and photorefractive devices are discussed.

Interfacial Materials for Organic Solar Cells: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have shown great promise as low-cost photovoltaic devices for solar energy conversion over the past decade. Interfacial engineering provides a powerful strategy to enhance efficiency and stability of OSCs. With the rapid advances of interface layer materials and active layer materials, power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of both single-junction and tandem OSCs have exceeded a landmark value of 10%. This review summarizes the latest advances in interfacial layers for single-junction and tandem OSCs. Electron or hole transporting materials, including metal oxides, polymers/small-molecules, metals and metal salts/complexes, carbon-based materials, organic-inorganic hybrids/composites, and other emerging materials, are systemically presented as cathode and anode interface layers for high performance OSCs. Meanwhile, incorporating these electron-transporting and hole-transporting layer materials as building blocks, a variety of interconnecting layers for conventional or inverted tandem OSCs are comprehensively discussed, along with their functions to bridge the difference between adjacent subcells. By analyzing the structure-property relationships of various interfacial materials, the important design rules for such materials towards high efficiency and stable OSCs are highlighted. Finally, we present a brief summary as well as some perspectives to help researchers understand the current challenges and opportunities in this emerging area of research.

Highly Efficient Hybrid Polymer and Amorphous Silicon Multijunction Solar Cells with Effective Optical Management

Highly efficient hybrid multijunction solar cells are constructed with a wide-bandgap amorphous silicon for the front subcell and a low-bandgap polymer for the back subcell. Power conversion efficiencies of 11.6% and 13.2% are achieved in tandem and triple-junction configurations, respectively. The high efficiencies are enabled by deploying effective optical management and by using photoactive materials with complementary absorption.

Novel p-Type Conductive Semiconductor Nanocrystalline Film as the Back Electrode for High-Performance Thin Film Solar Cells

Thin film solar cells, due to the low cost, high efficiency, long-term stability, and consumer applications, have been widely applied for harvesting green energy. All of these thin film solar cells generally adopt various metal thin films as the back electrode, like Mo, Au, Ni, Ag, Al, graphite, and so forth. When they contact with p-type layer, it always produces a Schottky contact with a high contact potential barrier, which greatly affects the cell performance. In this work, we report for the first time to find an appropriate p-type conductive semiconductor film, digenite Cu9S5 nanocrystalline film, as the back electrode for CdTe solar cells as the model device. Its low sheet resistance (16.6 Ω/sq) could compare to that of the commercial TCO films (6-30 Ω/sq), like FTO, ITO, and AZO. Different from the traditonal metal back electrode, it produces a successive gradient-doping region by the controllable Cu diffusion, which greatly reduces the contact potential barrier. Remarkably, it achieved a comparable power conversion efficiency (PCE, 11.3%) with the traditional metal back electrode (Cu/Au thin films, 11.4%) in CdTe cells and a higher PCE (13.8%) with the help of the Au assistant film. We believe it could also act as the back electrode for other thin film solar cells (α-Si, CuInS2, CIGSe, CZTS, etc.), for their performance improvement.

A generic concept to overcome bandgap limitations for designing highly efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cells

The multi-junction concept is the most relevant approach to overcome the Shockley–Queisser limit for single-junction photovoltaic cells. The record efficiencies of several types of solar technologies are held by series-connected tandem configurations. However, the stringent current-matching criterion presents primarily a material challenge and permanently requires developing and processing novel semiconductors with desired bandgaps and thicknesses. Here we report a generic concept to alleviate this limitation. By integrating series- and parallel-interconnections into a triple-junction configuration, we find significantly relaxed material selection and current-matching constraints. To illustrate the versatile applicability of the proposed triple-junction concept, organic and organic-inorganic hybrid triple-junction solar cells are constructed by printing methods. High fill factors up to 68% without resistive losses are achieved for both organic and hybrid triple-junction devices. Series/parallel triple-junction cells with organic, as well as perovskite-based subcells may become a key technology to further advance the efficiency roadmap of the existing photovoltaic technologies.

The efficiency of a single-junction photovoltaic cell is constrained by the Shockley-Queisser limit. Here, the authors adopt a triple-junction configuration which relaxes material and current-matching constraints, providing a generic strategy for advancing the efficiency roadmap of photovoltaic technologies.

Crystalline photoactive copper indium diselenide thin films by pulsed laser crystallization of nanoparticle-inks at ambient conditions

Direct pulsed laser crystallization (DPLC) is explored to rapidly crystallize large area coated copper indium diselenide (CIS) nanoparticle-inks.