D. B. Buchholz

p-TYPE SEMICONDUCTING NICKEL OXIDE AS AN EFFICIENCY-ENHANCING ANODAL INTERFACIAL LAYER IN BULK HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS

To minimize interfacial power losses, thin (5–80 nm) layers of NiO, a p-type oxide semiconductor, are inserted between the active organic layer, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) + [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), and the ITO (tin-doped indium oxide) anode of bulk-heterojunction ITO/P3HT:PCBM/LiF/Al solar cells. The interfacial NiO layer is deposited by pulsed laser deposition directly onto cleaned ITO, and the active layer is subsequently deposited by spin-coating. Insertion of the NiO layer affords cell power conversion efficiencies as high as 5.2% and enhances the fill factor to 69% and the open-circuit voltage (Voc) to 638 mV versus an ITO/P3HT:PCBM/LiF/Al control device. The value of such hole-transporting/electron-blocking interfacial layers is clearly demonstrated and should be applicable to other organic photovoltaics.

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in Cu-doped ZnO thin films

A series of copper-doped zinc oxide films were grown by pulsed-laser ablation. Films grown under conditions that produced n-type ZnO were nonmagnetic while those grown under conditions that produced p-type were ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature above 350 K. The magnetic moment per copper atom decreased as the copper concentration increased. An explanation for this result is proposed based on the distance between nearest-neighbor copper atoms.A series of copper-doped zinc oxide films were grown by pulsed-laser ablation. Films grown under conditions that produced n-type ZnO were nonmagnetic while those grown under conditions that produced p-type were ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature above 350 K. The magnetic moment per copper atom decreased as the copper concentration increased. An explanation for this result is proposed based on the distance between nearest-neighbor copper atoms.

Where does the spin reside in ferromagnetic Cu-doped ZnO?

The authors report a soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism study of the ferromagnetism in pulsed-laser-deposited Cu-doped ZnO thin films, which display robust room-temperature ferromagnetic signatures using bulk magnetization probes. In this work, the authors probe the spin asymmetries in the Cu 3d, O 2p, and Zn 3d states individually. They find a paramagnetic component originating from the Cu 3d, and no magnetic signal in the O or Zn. They find no dichroic signal consistent with ferromagnetism originating from any of these states.

Ultra‐Flexible, “Invisible” Thin‐Film Transistors Enabled by Amorphous Metal Oxide/Polymer Channel Layer Blends

Ultra-flexible and transparent metal oxide transistors are developed by doping In2 O3 films with poly(vinylphenole) (PVP). By adjusting the In2 O3 :PVP weight ratio, crystallization is frustrated, and conducting pathways for efficient charge transport are maintained. In2 O3 :5%PVP-based transistors exhibit mobilities approaching 11 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) before, and retain up to ca. 90% performance after 100 bending/relaxing cycles at a radius of 10 mm.

Pulsed organometallic beam epitaxy of complex oxide films

We report the results of a pulsed organometallic beam epitaxy (POMBE) process for growing complex oxide films at low background gas pressure (10−4–10−2 Torr) and low substrate temperature (600–680 °C) using organometallic precursors in an oxygen plasma environment. Our results show that POMBE can extend the capability of organometallic chemical vapor deposition to growing complex oxide films with high precision both in composition and structure without the need for post‐deposition oxidation and heat treatments. The growth of phase‐pure, highly oriented Y‐Ba‐Cu‐O superconducting oxide films {[Tc (R=0)=90.5 K] and Jc (77 K, 50 K gauss)=1.1×105 A/cm2} is given as an example. Similar to the pulsed laser deposition process, the POMBE method has the potential for in situ processing of multilayer structures (e.g., junctions).

Detection of chemical species using ultraviolet microdisk lasers

We have utilized hybrid zinc oxide∕silica microdisk lasers to sense volatile organic compounds, such as toluene and nitrobenzene. Nonspecific adsorption of these organic molecules onto the microdisk surface causes an increase in the disk refractive index, ultimately resulting in a redshift of the observed lasing wavelengths. The monitoring of these shifts provides the sensing modality. Microdisk lasers were found to respond rapidly and reversibly to the investigated chemicals demonstrating, in principal, the chemical and biological sensing capabilities of such devices.

Meandering grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3Oy bi‐crystal thin films

Artificially induced [001] tilt grain boundaries in epitaxial YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) thin films were prepared by deposition onto SrTiO3 bi‐crystal substrates and subsequently examined by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the YBCO grain boundary deviated from the path defined by the underlying substrate boundary, with the ‘‘meandering’’ YBCO boundary only generally following the path defined by the boundary in the underlying substrate. The AFM studies suggest this ‘‘meandering’’ behavior is related to the nucleation and growth mechanisms of the film, and based on this, we were able to vary the magnitude of the meandering by changing the growth conditions. The implications of this meandering behavior are significant, suggesting potential variations in electrical behavior from point to point along these boundaries. This effect is likely to be exacerbated by reduced junction linewidths and may lead to inconsistent behavior in devices which utilize this type of bou...

Ultraflexible Polymer Solar Cells Using Amorphous Zinc−Indium−Tin Oxide Transparent Electrodes

Polymer solar cells are fabricated on highly conductive, transparent amorphous zinc indium tin oxide (a-ZITO) electrodes. For two representative active layer donor polymers, P3HT and PTB7, the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) are comparable to reference devices using polycrystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Benefitting from the amorphous character of a-ZITO, the new devices are highly flexible and can be repeatedly bent to a radius of 5 mm without significant PCE reduction.

Solid-state synthesis of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A modified high-temperature arc furnace was used to produce carbon nanotubes from carbon black by a solid-state transformation without a catalyst. The layer of carbon nanotubes thus formed was nearly pure with only a minor amount of carbon black particles. The properties of these nanotubes were found to be very similar to those produced by the conventional arc synthesis. Based on this process, a mechanism for the growth of these nanotubes is proposed. In addition, field-emission properties of these nanotubes were comparable to the properties of arc-grown carbon nanotubes.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of the local structures of crystalline Zn-In-Sn oxide thin films

The local structure of a Zn, Sn codoped In2O3 thin film grown on c-plane sapphire by pulsed-laser deposition was examined by polarization-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The bixbyite film structure is both out-of-plane and in-plane oriented, and the structural results show that both Zn and Sn dopants occupy In sites. The In–O bond length is comparable to that in powder In2O3. However, both Sn–O and Zn–O bonds have two distinct distances in the first shell. Some of the Zn dopants are undercoordinated and, accordingly, some isovalent Sn dopants are overcoordinated for charge balance. In addition, the results suggest that the aliovalent Sn dopants form Frank–Kostlin clusters, (2SnIn•Oi″)x, which provide enough charge carriers to explain the Hall measurements.