Low-temperature annealing of Zinc oxide (ZnO) films as electron transport layers for inverted polymer solar cells was investigated. A wrinkled morphology of the ZnO film has previously been mostly observed after dynamic annealing (DA). In this study, we investigated the effect of static annealing (SA) of ZnO layers deposited by the sol−gel method at 25 °C, 150 °C, and 200 °C for 10 min in air. We observed the formation of the wrinkle structures on the surface of the ZnO sample annealed at 150 °C, while flat structures were formed at 200 °C. Here, a variable ramping/heating rate provided by a static annealing process resulted in a variable solvent evaporation rate and transformation of the precursor. The tensile stresses induced by slower heating (∼40 °C/min in a 0.75 M ZnO solution) and residual solvent resulted in an amorphous layer with a wrinkled structure at a low temperature of 150 °C. A flat structure was obtained with slightly different dynamics at a faster heating rate (∼56 °C/min) at 200 °C. Consequently, the SA process enabled us to fabricate the desired wrinkled morphology at lower annealing temperatures (e.g., 150 °C) than ever reported for DA processes; the ramp rate in the 200 °C SA process was too high to form the wrinkled structure. The short circuit current of the device using a wrinkle structure was better than that of the device with flat structure due to optical effects of internal reflection, scattering and light-trapping by wrinkles, while the transmittance and fill factor of the device using a flat ZnO layer annealed at 200 °C was better than those of the device with a ZnO layer annealed at 150 °C. This was due to better film quality from the higher processing temperature, a low surface roughness, and less defects. However, the power conversion efficiency of devices with both films was similar, meaning that the low temperature annealing process producing the wrinkle structure can be used for fabricating devices with polymer substrates and gas barriers for flexible electronics. In the case of the wrinkled structure, we observed that the wrinkle height was highly dependent on the ramping rate, ZnO solution concentration, and annealing temperature, compared with previous works.

Stretchable organic light-emitting diodes are ubiquitous in the rapidly developing wearable display technology. However, low efficiency and poor mechanical stability inhibit their commercial applications owing to the restrictions generated by strain. Here, we demonstrate the exceptional performance of a transparent (molybdenum-trioxide/gold/molybdenum-trioxide) electrode for buckled, twistable, and geometrically stretchable organic light-emitting diodes under 2-dimensional random area strain with invariant color coordinates. The devices are fabricated on a thin optical-adhesive/elastomer with a small mechanical bending strain and water-proofed by optical-adhesive encapsulation in a sandwiched structure. The heat dissipation mechanism of the thin optical-adhesive substrate, thin elastomer-based devices or silicon dioxide nanoparticles reduces triplet-triplet annihilation, providing consistent performance at high exciton density, compared with thick elastomer and a glass substrate. The performance is enhanced by the nanoparticles in the optical-adhesive for light out-coupling and improved heat dissipation. A high current efficiency of ~82.4 cd/A and an external quantum efficiency of ~22.3% are achieved with minimum efficiency roll-off.

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We report the confinement of recombination zone (RZ) in green phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (Ph-OLEDs) for enhanced efficiency by varying the emission layer (EML) thickness and through quantum well (QW) insertion. At low thickness of EML, the efficiency is reduced owing to the diffusion of the RZ toward the EML/hole transport layer interface, which was revealed through the presence of exciton blocking layer [TCTA: tris­(4-carbazoyl-9-ylphenyl)­amine] excitation accompanied by a blue-shift in electroluminescence (EL). Further increase in the thickness of the EML caused the RZ to move toward the cathode, which was determined based on the disappearance of TCTA emission and the corresponding red-shift observed in EL spectra. The solid-state and time-resolved area normalized photoluminescence emission spectra investigations further corroborate the RZ movement tactics along with TCTA excimer generation and exciplex generation between TCTA and tris­[2-phenylpyridinato-C2,N]­iridium­(III) Ir­(ppy)3. The superior quantum and current efficiency of 14.4% and 50 cd/A, respectively, were determined for the device with an EML thickness of 15 nm due to the confinement of the RZ in the EML. The addition of (EML/interlayer/EML) QW facilitates improved charge balance in the Ph-OLED and further assists in the confinement of the RZ in the EML. Because of QW, a slight increment in quantum (14.6%) and current efficiency (52 cd/A) was observed. Without using any sensing layers, movement of the RZ was successfully monitored and confined in the EML to realize enhanced efficiency in green Ph-OLEDs.

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Hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) generally contain p/n-type Si layers, which are fabricated using toxic gases.

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