Improved hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells realized by replacing n-type Si layer with PFN interfacial layer

Seung Yoon Ryu, Ji hoon Seo, Hassan Hafeez, Myungkwan Song, Jun Young Shin, Dong Hyun Kim, Yong Chan Jung, Chang Su Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Improvement in the device performance of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) without hazardous doping gases and complex processes has been a long-standing aim for many researchers. In this work, we replaced the n-type Si layer in an a-Si:H TFSC with an interfacial dipole layer of conjugated polymer electrolyte material, poly [(9,9-bis(3'-(N,N-dimethylamino) propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFN), while keeping the conventional layer scheme. The addition of PFN eliminated the process complexity, improved the device performance, and generated a built-in potential (Vbi) across the p-type Si layer. The power conversion efficiency of the optimized device reached a maximum of 7.17%, which is significant when using a toxicant-free layer. The open-circuit voltage was improved to 0.80 V from 0.47 V in comparison to a reference a-Si:H TFSC without PFN, and the stability in light and dark conditions were greatly enhanced. The fill factor was increased from 0.45 to 0.59 because of the enhancement in shunt/series resistance. The improvement in device performance is mainly due to the creation of an interfacial dipole by the PFN layer, which generated the Vbi across the p-type Si layer, decreased the potential barrier between the i-Si layer and aluminum cathode, and consequently reduced the defects resulting from the coating of the i-Si layer and enhanced electron extraction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)91-98
Number of pages8
JournalSynthetic Metals
Volume228
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2017

Keywords

  • A-Si:H thin-film solar cells
  • PFN interfacial dipole layer
  • n-type dopant-free solar cells

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