Design and fabrication of a semi-transparent solar cell considering the effect of the layer thickness of MoO3/Ag/MoO3 transparent top contact on optical and electrical properties

Abstract

We conducted the present study to design and manufacture a semi-transparent organic solar cell (ST-OSC). First, we formed a transparent top contact as MoO3/Ag/MoO3 in a dielectric/metal/dielectric (DMD) structure. We performed the production of an FTO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag/MoO3 ST-OSC by integrating MoO3/Ag/MoO3 (10/$$d_{m}$$ d m /$$d_{{od}}$$ d od nm) instead of an Ag electrode in an opaque FTO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag (–/40/130/10/100 nm) OSC, after theoretically achieving optimal values of optical and electrical parameters depending on Ag layer thickness. The transparency decreased with the increase of $$d_{m}$$ d m values for current DMD. Meanwhile, maximum transmittance and average visible transmittance (AVT) indicated the maximum values of over 92% for $$d_{m} ~$$ d m = 4 and 8 nm, respectively. For ST-OSCs, the absorption and reflectance increased in the visible region by a wavelength of longer than 560 nm and in the whole near-infrared region by increasing $$d_{m}$$ d m up to 16 nm. Moreover, in the CIE chromaticity diagram, we reported a shift towards the D65 Planckian locus for colour coordinates of current ST-OSCs. Electrical analysis indicated the photogenerated current density and AVT values for $$d_{m} = 6$$ d m = 6 nm as 63.30 mA/cm2 and 38.52%, respectively. Thus, the theoretical and experimental comparison of optical and electrical characteristics confirmed that the manufactured structure is potentially conducive for a high-performance ST-OSC.

Theory‐Guided Material Design Enabling High‐Performance Multifunctional Semitransparent Organic Photovoltaics without Optical Modulations

“…However, AVT does not always increase as electrode thickness decreases. [ 62 ] In our case, the maximum AVT of 35.5% appears at an electrode thickness of 8 nm, and the LUE is also the highest at this condition. Benefiting from the NIR complementary absorption strategy, ultranarrow‐bandgap NFA‐based ST‐OPVs have achieved impressive LUEs as shown in Figure 5d.…”

Functional optical design of thickness-optimized transparent conductive dielectric-metal-dielectric plasmonic structure

“…Graphene, carbon nanotube, and conductive polymer-based systems developed as substitute materials to ITO, FTO, and GZO have been limited uses cause of their high cost and low conductivity 5 , 7 – 9 . The metal mesh-based transparent electrodes have possessed easy-to-manufacture, inexpensive and abundant, whereas they have exhibited optical turbidity and poor optical performance by reflecting and scattering light in metal mesh patterns 1 , 10 – 14 . Contrarily to this case is principally inappropriate for high-resolution display technologies.…”

“…Moreover, DMD transparent contact structures remain critical components of various optoelectronic devices such as sensors, displays, LEDs and solar cells, as they feature high transparency and conductivity, low haze, excellent flexibility and gerat compatibility with different substrates 6 , 14 , 15 , 21 , 22 . Since DMDs, compared to other transparent contact structures, can be easily modelled at the microscale through shadow mask lithography, they are pretty functional, possessing the merits of easy fabrication 10 , 23 – 25 .…”

“…Therefore, the material and thickness value of the metallic layer should be noted as dramatically important optimisation parameters for a functional DMD design. Due to the nature of transparent electrodes, with the requirement for low reflectivity, photon absorption and reflection within the electrode structure should be carefully tuned to allow sufficient light to pass through 10 , 26 .…”

“…Transition metal oxides (TMOs), which have high transparency in the VR, work functions ranging from 2 to 7 eV, and wideband gaps, can be used as a dielectric layer in DMDs 27 . Thus, TMOs can also act as electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL) in structures where the DMD system is integrated 10 . In this way, DMD structures carry transparent contact potential and play an influential role in adjusting electrical properties with appropriate dielectric selection 28 .…”