Atomic Layer Deposition for Surface and Interface Engineering in Nanostructured Photovoltaic Devices

Guerra‐Nuñez, Carlos; Park, Hyung Gyu; Utke, Ivo

doi:10.1002/9783527694822.ch4

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Pure metals, oxides, nitrides, fluorides, sulfides, and II–VI and III–V compounds can be grown with ALD. ,− Therefore, this technique is broadly used in both industry and research centers. ALD-fabricated thin films are applied in microelectronics (for high- k dielectrics, micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems, MEMS , and NEMS), photovoltaics (in fabrication of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin-film solar cells, − dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), , organic photovoltaics, , organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), − transparent conducting oxides (TCOs, such as SnO 2 , , ZnO, Al:ZnO, black silicon)), antireflective coatings, , coatings protecting against corrosion, , thin-film electroluminescent (TFEL) displays, semiconductor and energy conversion devices, , medical applications, and battery cycle lifetime improvement, as well as for fabricating dedicated model samples used for developing and validating the potential of state-of-the-art characterization techniques. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

et al. 2022

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The extraordinary properties of thin films result from their 2D structure, (i.e., one dimension is negligibly small when compared with the two others). Consequently, precise and well-established fabrication methods are required to provide appropriate functionality of these materials, such as hardness, resistance to mechanical stress, durability, or chemical/electrical stability. In this work, we present the potential of integrating a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) with atomic layer deposition (ALD) for real-time control of thin-film fabrication processes. This technique provides parallel detection of all ionized molecules and ionized fragments; therefore, the limitations of commonly used quadrupole mass spectrometers are overcome. Furthermore, since the chemical data acquisition is conducted in situ, the results of applied deposition parameters can be observed on-line allowing for immediate modifications, for example, in the case of process deviation from optimal or failure. The presented monitoring method is expected to be broadly applied in many deposition or etching processes, in which accurate chemical composition and strict end point control are demanded, such as manufacture of microdevices (for new energy solutions and microelectronics), protective surface coatings, actuators, sensors, and biomedical applications

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

et al. 2022

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“…Nanostructured solar cells, such as dye-sensitized (DSSC), perovskite, and organic solar cells, have been integrated in the photovoltaic field as an alternative to traditional solar cells owing to their low manufacturing cost and ease of fabrication. , The principle behind a nanostructured solar cell consists of increasing the surface area of the photoanode to improve light absorption and consequently the photogeneration of charges, and to improve the carrier transport on shorter transport distances. However, increasing the surface area of the photoanode also increases the charge recombination rates at the numerous surfaces and interfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, increasing the surface area of the photoanode also increases the charge recombination rates at the numerous surfaces and interfaces. The introduction of thin recombination barrier layers at these interfaces can minimize this recombination, and a compromise has to be found between surface area, light absorption/photogeneration, and recombination. For instance, in DSSCs (the most widely studied nanostructured solar cells during the last decades), the electrons generated upon solar light absorption by the dye molecules are injected into the conduction band of a wide gap semiconductor (i.e., TiO 2 , ZnO) and are finally collected by an electrode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of Multilayers of Urchin-like ZnO Nanowires Coated with TiO₂Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Karam

Habchi

Tingry

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Nano Mater.

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In dye-sensitized solar cells, the photovoltaic efficiency of nanowires (NW) is still limited by their surface area and loss of light absorption compared with nanoparticle (NP) architectures. To overcome this limitation, the light harvesting efficiencies must be improved by increasing the total NW array surface area, without increasing too much the traveled distance of electrons.Here, we describe the design of a 3D architecture based on polystyrene spheres (PS) coated with ordered multilayers of urchin-like ZnO NWs (U-ZnO NWs) to be used as a high surface area nanostructure photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Two to four layers of U-ZnO NWs were synthesized by using PS of 1 and 5 µm in diameter. The ordered layers of U-ZnO NWs were then coated with a thin layer of TiO2 by atomic layer deposition, and topped with a ~ 9-14 µm thick layer of anatase TiO2 NPs. We found that assembling organized layers of U-ZnO NWs significantly increased the surface area and provided better photon absorption. Moreover, coating the U-ZnO NWs with a thin TiO2 layer decreased the charge recombination and consequently enhanced the photovoltaic efficiency.

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Atomic Layer Deposition of Conducting CuS Thin Films from Elemental Sulfur

Tripathi

Lahtinen

Karppinen

2018

Adv Materials Inter

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Copper sulfide thin films have been fabricated by various deposition techniques, such as chemical vapor deposition, [15] sputtering, spray pyrolysis, [16,17] chemical bath deposition, [18,19] and electrochemical methods. [20][21][22] However, in most cases the required control over the film stoichiometry and phase composition is poorly achieved due to the coexistence of several stable and metastable copper sulfide phases. [23] Moreover, fabrication of continuous copper sulfide coatings with a well-controlled morphology on highaspect-ratio nanostructures has remained a challenge. It is here in particular where the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique could provide us with clear advantages over the other thin-film technologies for the deposition of high-quality copper sulfide thin films for various advanced applications including the photovoltaics. [17,24,25] Atomic layer deposition is based on sequential and self-limiting gas-surface reactions and is known to yield exceptionally homogeneous coatings in atomic-scale precision independent of the substrate geometry.The vast majority of the metal sulfide ALD processes is based on metal-organic precursors together with hydrogen sulfide H 2 S as the source of sulfur; [26] the same applies to the reported copper sulfide ALD processes as well (see Table 1). The main merit of H 2 S is that it is highly reactive toward common metal precursors. However, H 2 S is a flammable, corrosive, and highly toxic gas, and its incorporation in the ALD technology presents several serious technical challenges. The special precautions required for the safe use of H 2 S may even be one of the reasons why only 16 metal sulfide ALD processes have been so far reported during the half a century long ALD history. [26] Another drawback of the H 2 S-based ALD processes is the slowness of these processes, see, e.g., the growth rate values given in Table 1 for the copper sulfide processes. Moreover, majority of the reported copper sulfide processes yields Cu(I) sulfide as the main phase; hence, there is a clear interest in a new robust and efficient ALD process for high-quality Cu(II) sulfide thin films. [27] Despite the fact that some of the early ALD processes employed elemental sulfur instead of H 2 S as the sulfur source, [35] to the best of our knowledge no sulfur-based ALD processes have been reported for copper sulfide thin films. Here, we present a simple and efficient low-temperature ALD process for the deposition of high-quality p-type conducting CuS thin films from copper acetyl acetonate and elemental sulfur precursors, as a highly viable solution to the challenges discussed above.A facile, yet precisely controlled and efficient atomic layer deposition (ALD) process is reported for high-quality copper(II) sulfide thin films based on elemental solid sulfur as the source for sulfur; Cu(acac) 2 (acac: acetylacetonate) is used as the copper precursor. In the deposition temperature range as low as 140-160 °C, the process proceeds in an essentially ideal ALD manner and yields single-phase C...

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Atomic Layer Deposition for Surface and Interface Engineering in Nanostructured Photovoltaic Devices

Cited by 3 publications

References 119 publications

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

Design of Multilayers of Urchin-like ZnO Nanowires Coated with TiO₂Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Atomic Layer Deposition of Conducting CuS Thin Films from Elemental Sulfur

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Atomic Layer Deposition for Surface and Interface Engineering in Nanostructured Photovoltaic Devices

Cited by 3 publications

References 119 publications

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

Real-Time In Situ Parallel Detection of Elements and Molecules with TOFMS during ALD for Chemical Quality Control of Thin Films

Design of Multilayers of Urchin-like ZnO Nanowires Coated with TiO2Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Atomic Layer Deposition of Conducting CuS Thin Films from Elemental Sulfur

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Design of Multilayers of Urchin-like ZnO Nanowires Coated with TiO₂Nanostructures for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells