Overcoming Electrode‐Induced Losses in Organic Solar Cells by Tailoring a Quasi‐Ohmic Contact to Fullerenes via Solution‐Processed Alkali Hydroxide Layers |
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| Authors: | Hong Zhang R Clayton Shallcross Ning Li Tobias Stubhan Yi Hou Wei Chen Tayebeh Ameri Mathieu Turbiez Neal R Armstrong Christoph J Brabec |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (I‐MEET), Friedrich‐Alexander‐University Erlangen‐Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany;2. Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), Erlangen, Germany;3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arizona, 1306 East University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ, USA;4. BASF Schweiz AG, Basel, Switzerland;5. Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE Bayern), Erlangen, Germany |
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| Abstract: | It is shown that the performance of inverted organic solar cells can be significantly improved by facilitating the formation of a quasi‐ohmic contact via solution‐processed alkali hydroxide (AOH) interlayers on top of n‐type metal oxide (aluminum zinc oxide, AZO, and zinc oxide, ZnO) layers. AOHs significantly reduce the work function of metal oxides, and are further proven to effectively passivate defect states in these metal oxides. The interfacial energetics of these electron collecting contacts with a prototypical electron acceptor (C60) are investigated to reveal the presence of a large interface dipole and a new interface state between the Fermi energy and the C60 highest occupied molecular orbital for AOH‐modified AZO contacts. These novel interfacial gap states are a result of ground‐state electron transfer from the metal hydroxide‐functionalized AZO contact to the adsorbed molecules, which are hypothesized to be electronically hybridized with the contact. These interface states tail all the way to the Fermi energy, providing for a highly n‐doped (metal‐like) interfacial molecular layer. Furthermore, the strong “light‐soaking” effect is no longer observed in devices with a AOH interface. |
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| Keywords: | alkali hydroxide interfacial layers organic solar cells solution processing |
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