Chung Yin Kwong

Poly(3-hexylthiophene):TiO2 nanocomposites for solar cell applications

The properties of organic/inorganic poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):TiO2 nanocomposite films and nanocomposite based solar cells as a function of TiO2 concentration and the solvent used for the film fabrication were studied. For low nanoparticle concentration (20?30%) the device performance was worse compared to pure P3HT, while for nanoparticle concentration of 50% and 60% significant improvements were obtained. P3HT photoluminescence quenching in 600?800?nm spectral region changes by a factor of two for the increase in TiO2 concentration from 20% to 60%, while the AM1 power conversion efficiency increases times. Photoluminescence quenching and solar cell efficiency were found to be strongly dependent not only on nanoparticle concentration but also on the solvent used for spin-coating. The changes in the film and device properties were explained by the change in the film morphology. For optimal fabrication conditions, external quantum efficiency up to 15% and AM1 power conversion efficiency of 0.42% were obtained.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry of metal phthalocyanine thin films

Optical functions of cobalt phthalocyanine, nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc), and iron phthalocyanine (FePc) have been determined by use of spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range 1.55-4.1 eV (300-800 nm). The samples were prepared by evaporation onto glass and silicon substrates. The optical functions were determined by point-to-point fit. Absorption spectra were also measured. The index-of-refraction data for NiPc and FePc are reported for the first time to our knowledge. Good agreement with the experimental spectra was obtained for all three materials.

Change of the emission spectra in organic light-emitting diodes by layer thickness modification

Electroluminescence and photoluminescence of organic light-emitting diodes consisting of an indium tin oxide anode, N,N8-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N8-diphenyl-benzidine as a hole transport layer, tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum as emitting layer, and an Ag cathode were measured for different layer thickness values. It was found that, for a certain range of thickness values, multiple peak emission can be achieved. In addition, the emission spectra were dependent on the viewing angle. For the optimized thickness values, normal incidence chromaticity coordinates achieved were 0.32 and 0.43. Possible explanations for observed unexpected behavior are discussed.

CuPc/C60 Solar Cells -- Influence of the Indium Tin Oxide Substrate and Device Architecture on the Solar Cell Performance

We investigated the influence of different indium tin oxide (ITO) surface treatments on the performance of organic solar cells with different device architectures. Two types of devices (CuPc in contact with ITO treated with different treatments and C60 in contact with ITO treated with different treatments) were fabricated. The surfaces of CuPc and C60 layers deposited on ITO substrates treated with different surface treatments were examined using atomic force microscopy. The devices were characterized by measuring current-voltage characteristics in the dark and under AM1 illumination. We found that a one order of magnitude improvement in the AM1 power conversion efficiency for ITO/CuPc/C60/Al cells can be achieved for optimal ITO surface treatment, while ITO/C60/CuPc/Cu devices exhibit less sensitivity to surface treatments. Moreover, these devices exhibit better performance compared to ITO/CuPc/C60/Al devices. The observed differences in sensitivity to surface treatments were attributed to difference in the dependence of the film surface on ITO surface morphology for CuPc and C60.

Surface treatments of indium tin oxide substrates: comprehensive investigation of mechanical, chemical, thermal, and plasma treatments

Various surface treatments significantly affect the work function and surface roughness of indium tin oxide (ITO), and thusly influence charge injection and overall performance of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Large number of treatments, most commonly oxygen plasma treatment and UV-ozone treatment, have been proposed to improve characteristics of ITO. In this work, we have investigated a)mechanical treatments (mechanical rubbing, followed by ultrasonic bath), b)chemical treatments (dipping into aqueous solutions of various acids, including acids which have not been investigated previously) c)thermal treatments (thermal annealing in different atmospheres) d) plasma treatments e) UV ozone treatment f) different combinations of the above. We have measured surface sheet resistance of the samples and investigated surface morphology of the treated samples and compared them to as-received samples. We have selected several treatments giving best results. Then we have fabricated OLEDs using ITO substrates treated with treatments selected, as well as a control OLED fabricated on as-received ITO. The impact of ITO treatments on the performance of OLEDs have been investigated on two types of devices, OLEDs with and without transport layer, having the structures glass/ITO/Alq3/Al and glass/ITO/TPD/Alq3/Al, respectively, where Alq3(tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum) is emitting layer and TPD(N,N-diphenyl-N,N-bis(3-methyl-phenyl)-1,1biphenil- 4,4diamine) is a hole transport layer.

Evolution of optical properties of tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) with atmosphere exposure

Tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) represents a material of significant interest for electron transport and/or light emitting layer applications in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In spite of advances in Alq3 based devices, the knowledge and understanding of the optical properties of Alq3 and its chemical and environmental stability is still limited. With the reports of decreased turn-on voltage and increased efficiency of OLEDs, the issues of lifetime and stability of those devices are attracting increasing attention. The degradation of Alq3 based OLEDs and dark spots formation and growth have been intensively studied. The studies on degradation of optical properties of Alq3 itself remain scarce. We have investigated effects of atmosphere exposure to properties of tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) thin films by photoluminescence (PL) and absorption measurements. Alq3 films were evaportated on glass substrates at different temperatures. The influence of annealing to the environmental stability of the films has also been investigated. It has been found that deposition at higher substrate temperature and annealing of the samples deposited at room temperature yields improvement in environmental stability of the films, i.e. less decrease of the PL intensity over time with atmosphere exposure, as well as increased PL intensity. To investigate further effects of the air exposure, films deposited at room temprature were stored for four days in air, nitrogen, and oxygen. No decrease in PL intensity has been found for storage in nitrogen, while decrease for the film stored in oxygen was smaller than that for film stored in air, indicating that both humidity and oxygen play a role in PL intensity decrease in Alq3 thin films.

Phthalocyanine based Schottky solar cells

Phthalocyanine (Pc) materials are commonly used in organic solar cells. Four different phthalocyanines, nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc), copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), iron phthalocyanine (FePc), and cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) have been investigated for organic solar cell applications. The devices consisted of indium tin oxide (ITO) coated lass substrate, Pc layer, and aluminum (al) electrode. It has been found that ITO/CuPc/Al Schottky cell exhibits the best performance. To investigate the influence of the active layer thickness on the cell performance, cells with several different thicknesses were fabricated and optimal value was found. Schottky cell exhibits optimal performance with one ohmic and one barrier contact. However, it is suspected that ITO/CuPc contact is not ohmic. Therefore, we have investigated various ITO surface treatments for improving the performance of CuPc based Schottky solar cell. We have found that cell on ITO treated with HCl and UV-ozone exhibits the best performance. AM1 power conversion efficiency can be improved by 30% compared to cell made with untreated ITO substrate. To improve power conversion efficiency, double or multiplayer structure are required, and it is expected that suitable ITO treatments for those devices will further improve their performance by improving the contact between ITO and phthalocyanine layer.

ZnO nanostructures prepared from ZnO:CNT mixtures

Due to its wide band gap (3.37 eV) and large exciton binding energy (60 meV), ZnO is of great interest for photonic applications. A number of different morphologies, such as nanobelts, nanowires, tetrapod nanostructures, tubular nanostructures, hierarchical nanostructures, nanobridges, nanonails, oriented nanorod arrays, nanoneedles, nanowalls, and nanosheets, were reported. A range of synthesis methods for fabrication of ZnO nanostructures was reported as well. A common method is evaporation from mixture of ZnO and carbon, which is usually in the form of graphite. In this work, we studied the morphology of the ZnO nanostructures fabricated from the mixture of ZnO (micron-sized and nanoparticles) and carbon (graphite, single-wall carbon nanotubes). When graphite and ZnO powders were used, tetrapod structures were obtained. If one of the reactants was nanosized, the diameter of the tetrapod arms was no longer constant. Finally, when both reactants were nanosized, novel morphologies were obtained. We studied the dependence of the morphology on the amount of starting material and the type of carbon used. The ZnO nanostructures were studied using field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction. Growth mechanism and factors affecting the morphologies are discussed.

Fabrication of bulk heterojunction photovoltaic devices using sublimable rhenium diimine complexes as photosensitizers

A series of chlorotricarbonyl rhenium (I) bis(phenylimino)acenaphthene (Re-DIAN-X) complexes were used as the photosensitizers for photovoltaic cells. Unlike other transition-metal-based photovoltaic sensitizers that can only be prepared by solution method, these complexes are sublimable. Compared to other rhenium diimine complexes based on bipyridine or 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene ligands, these complexes have lower band gaps, which can be modified easily by changing the structure of the ligand. It allows the preparation of blend of metal complexes in order to broaden the sensitization region in UV-vis absorption spectrum. One of the complexes also shows bipolar charge transport character with relatively high charge carrier mobilities in the order of 10-3 cm2V-1s-1. Multilayer heterojunction and bulk heterojunction devices with fullerene as the electron accepting molecule were prepared. For the bulk heterojunction devices, the fill factor and power conversion efficiency under AM 1.5 simulated solar light illumination were 0.51 and 1.29 %, respectively. The effects of changing the Re-DIAN/C60 film thickness, Re-DIAN/C60 ratio and variation of ligand structures in the bulk heterojunction devices were studied. The amount of photosensitizer and electron transport molecules may strongly affect the balance between the photon absorption, exciton formation, dissociation, and charge transport processes. Atomic force microscopic images showed that the complex dispersed evenly with fullerene molecules in solid state.

Fabrication of photovoltaic cell from rhenium-containing polymer

Photovoltaic devices were fabricated using rhenium bis(arylimino)acenaphthene (DIAN) complex containing poly(p-phenylenevinylene). These polymers absorb strongly in the visible region at ca. 440-550 nm. In addition, this type of transition metal based polymers have been shown to exhibit large photo-sensitivity due to the presence of the rhenium complex, which has a relatively long-lived Metal-to-Ligand Charge Transfer (MLCT) character. By using this type of polymers, the metal content can be adjusted easily by simply changing the monomer feed ratio. Moreover, the excited state properties and electronic absorption properties can be modified by varying the structure of the diimine ligand coordinated to the metal. This approach allows us to fine-tune the absorption spectra of the polymers by employing different types of rhenium complex derivatives. PEDOT:PSS and PTCDI were used as the hole and electron transport layers, respectively. The ITO/PEDOT:PSS/DIAN-PPV/PTCDI/Al devices were found to exhibit photovoltaic response under the illumination of AM1 solar radiation. The short-circuit current Isc, open-circuit voltage Voc, and the fill factor FF were measured to be 38 μA/cm2, 0.93 V and 0.21 respectively. Another photovoltaic device was prepared with the structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/DIAN-PPV:TiO2/PTCDI/Al and its photovoltaic properties were studied. The presence of TiO2 will assist the electron transport of the DIAN-PPV to the PTCDI, in which the electrons can be collected at the aluminium electrode. The short-circuit current Isc, open-circuit voltage Voc, and the fill factor FF were measured to be 51 μA/cm2, 1.18 V and 0.12 respectively. It was observed that the power conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices related closely to the rhenium content and the structure of the rhenium complex used.