Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

ITO surface modification for inverted organic photovoltaics

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Optoelectronics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The work function (WF) of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) substrates plays an important role on the inverted organic photovoltaic device performance. And electrode engineering has been a useful method to facilitate carrier extraction or charge collection to enhance organic photovoltaic (OPV) performance. By using self-assembly technique, we have deposited poly(dimethyl diallylammonium chloride) (PDDA) layers onto ITO coated glass substrates. The results indicate that the surface WF of ITO is reduced by about 0.3 eV after PDDA modification, which is attributed to the modulation in electron affinity. In addition, the surface roughness of ITO substrate became smaller after PDDA modification. These modified ITO substrates can be applied to fabricate inverted OPVs, in which ITO works as the cathode to collect electrons. As a result, the photovoltaic performance of inverted OPV is substantially improved, mainly reflecting on the increase of short circuit current density.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hoppe H, Sariciftci N S. Organic solar cells: an overview. Journal of Materials Research, 2004, 19(7): 1924–1945

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cnops K, Rand B P, Cheyns D, Verreet B, Empl M A, Heremans P. 8.4% efficient fullerene-free organic solar cells exploiting longrange exciton energy transfer. Nature Communications, 2014, 5: 3406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Cao W, Xue J. Recent progress in organic photovoltaics: device architecture and optical design. Energy & Environmental Science, 2014, 7(7): 2123–2144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jørgensen M, Norrman K, Krebs F. Stability/degradation of polymer solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2008, 92(7): 686–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. He Z, Zhong C, Su S, Xu M, Wu H, Cao Y. Enhanced powerconversion efficiency in polymer solar cells using an inverted device structure. Nature Photonics, 2012, 6(9): 591–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhou Y, Fuentes-Hernandez C, Shim J, Meyer J, Giordano A J, Li H, Winget P, Papadopoulos T, Cheun H, Kim J, Fenoll M, Dindar A, Haske W, Najafabadi E, Khan T M, Sojoudi H, Barlow S, Graham S, Brédas J L, Marder S R, Kahn A, Kippelen B. A universal method to produce low-work function electrodes for organic electronics. Science, 2012, 336(6079): 327–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Min X, Jiang F, Qin F, Li Z, Tong J, Xiong S, Meng W, Zhou Y. Polyethylenimine aqueous solution: a low-cost and environmentally friendly formulation to produce low-work-function electrodes for efficient easy-to-fabricate organic solar cells. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2014, 6(24): 22628–22633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Guo Z, Shen Y, Wang M, Zhao F, Dong S. electrochemistry and electrogenerated chemiluminescence of SiO2 nanoparticles/Tris (2,2-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) multilayer films on Indium Tin oxide electrodes. Analytical Chemistry, 2004, 76(1): 184–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Li L S, Li A D Q, Jia Q X. Effects of self-assembled multilayers on the evolution of surface physical properties of indium-tin-oxide. Applied Surface Science, 2003, 219(3–4): 199–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ma W, Yang C, Gong X, Lee K, Heeger A J. Thermally stable, efficient polymer solar cells with nanoscale control of the interpenetrating network morphology. Advanced Functional Materials, 2005, 15(10): 1617–1622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Park Y, Choong V, Gao Y, Hsieh B R, Tang CW. Work function of indium tin oxide transparent conductor measured by photoelectron spectroscopy. Applied Physics Letters, 1996, 68(19): 2699–2701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Manor A, Katz E A. Open-circuit voltage of organic photovoltaics: Implications of the generalized Einstein relation for disordered semiconductors. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2012, 97: 132–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Zhang C, You H, Lin Z, Hao Y. Inverted organic photovoltaic cells with solution-processed zinc oxide as electron collecting layer. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2011, 50(8R): 082302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhao DW, Sun XW, Jiang C Y, Kyaw A K K, Lo G Q, Kwong D L. Efficient tandem organic solar cells with an Al/MoO3 intermediate layer. Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 93(8): 083305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Tao C, Ruan S, Zhang X, Xie G, Shen L, Kong X, Dong W, Liu C, Chen W. Performance improvement of inverted polymer solar cells with different top electrodes by introducing a MoO3 buffer layer. Applied Physics Letters, 2008, 93(19): 193307

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Mingzhang Deng, Weina Shi, Chen Zhao, Bingbing Chen & Yan Shen

Authors
  1. Mingzhang Deng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Weina Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chen Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bingbing Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yan Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Shen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deng, M., Shi, W., Zhao, C. et al. ITO surface modification for inverted organic photovoltaics. Front. Optoelectron. 8, 269–273 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-015-0531-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-015-0531-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation