Efficient Near‐Infrared PbS Quantum Dot Solar Cells Employing Hydrogenated In₂O₃ Transparent Electrode

Abstract

Infrared solar cells are regarded as candidates for expanding the solar spectrum of c‐Si cells, and the window electrodes are usually transparent conductive oxide (TCO) such as widely used indium tin oxide material. However, due to the low transmittance of the TCO in the near‐infrared region, most near‐infrared light cannot penetrate the electrode and be absorbed by the active layer. Here, the propose a simple procedure to fabricate the window materials with high near‐infrared transmittance and high electrical conductivity, namely the hydrogen‐doped indium oxide (IHO) films prepared by room temperature magnetron sputtering. The low‐temperature annealed IHO conductive electrodes exhibit high mobility of 98 cm2 V−1 s−1 and high infrared transmittance of 85.2% at 1300 nm, which endows the lead quantum dot infrared solar cell with an improved short‐circuit current density of 37.2 mA cm−2 and external quantum efficiency of 70.22% at 1280 nm. The proposed preparation process is simple and compatible with existing production lines, which gifts the IHO transparent conductive film great potential in broad applications that simultaneously require high infrared transmittance and high conductivity.

Fabrication of High Transmittance and High Mobility Transparent Conductive Oxide Films: Hydrogen-doped Indium Oxide

“…Hydrogen doping, in which hydrogen atoms are incorporated into the crystal lattice, can be an alternative approach to traditional metal doping for reducing defects in crystals. Compared to transition metal dopants such as tin, titanium, tungsten and molybdenum, hydrogen atoms can more effectively passivate oxygen vacancies in the crystal, which are a major source of carrier scattering that reduces carrier mobility [8]. By reducing oxygen vacancies, hydrogen doping can lower carrier scattering and increase carrier mobility.…”

Colloidal quantum dot materials for next-generation near-infrared optoelectronics

“…Sun et al mixed small-E g CQDs with large-E g CQDs to create a different absorber for higher V oc and achieved PCE of 0.94% with a Si filter. 50 Choi et al 51 and Ge et al 52 developed more suitable components for NIR QDSCs, AZO ETL, and IHO transparent electrodes. Kim et al, 22 Liu et al, 53 and Baek et al 54 focused on the NIR QDSC structure.…”

Cerium-Doped Indium Oxide as a Top Electrode of Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells

“…Some transparent electrode materials with high transmittance (above 80%) in the infrared band, including aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), hydrogen-doped indium oxide (IO:H), and indium zinc oxide (IZO), have been used in the study of the ST-PSCs in recent years. − Thermal evaporation, atomic layer deposition, and magnetron sputtering are the main reported methods used to prepare transparent conductive oxide thin films. These materials usually show a mobility of about 40–60 cm 2 /V·s without annealing. − PCE of 19.0, 16.6, and 19.0% were achieved in the ST-PSCs based on IZO, AZO, and IO:H top-transparent electrodes, respectively. − …”