Hong Chul Moon

Air-stable inverted structure of hybrid solar cells using a cesium-doped ZnO electron transport layer prepared by a sol–gel process

We have developed an air-stable inverted structure of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) : cadmium selenide (CdSe) hybrid solar cells using a cesium-doped ZnO (ZnO:Cs) electron transport layer. The ZnO:Cs layer was simply prepared at low temperature by the sol–gel process using a ZnO solution containing cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3). With increasing Cs-doping concentration, the conduction band edge of ZnO is decreased, as confirmed by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. The energy level of ZnO:Cs is effective for electron transport from CdSe. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the inverted P3HT : CdSe hybrid solar cells using the ZnO:Cs electron transport layer is 1.14%, which is significantly improved over that (0.43%) of another device without Cs. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the amount of CdSe on the substrate (or the bottom surface) is larger compared with the air (or top) surface regardless of the P3HT : CdSe weight ratio. The vertically inhomogeneous distribution of CdSe in the hybrid solar cells gives better charge transport from CdSe to ZnO:Cs in the inverted structure of the device compared with that in the normal structure. As a result, the inverted hybrid solar cell consisting of 1 : 4 (wt/wt) P3HT : CdSe shows the best efficiency, while the best efficiency of a normal hybrid solar cell is achieved at 1 : 9 (wt/wt) P3HT : CdSe.

Improvement of power conversion efficiency of P3HT:CdSe hybrid solar cells by enhanced interconnection of CdSe nanorods via decomposable selenourea

We introduce a novel method to improve the device performance of P3HT:CdSe hybrid solar cells by using selenourea (SeU) for ligand exchange. SeU induces interconnection of CdSe nanorods in the nanoscale range without severe aggregation. The power conversion efficiency of the devices with SeU is improved from 1.71% to 2.63% due to efficient charge transport through interconnected CdSe nanorods.

Effect of neutral solvent on the phase behavior of polystyrene-block-poly(n-butyl methacrylate) copolymers

The effects of a neutral solvent of dioctyl phthalate (DOP) on the phase behavior of symmetric polystyrene-block-poly(n-butyl methacrylate) copolymers (PS-b-PnBMA) were assessed herein. Closed-loop phase behavior with a lower disorder-to-order transition (LDOT) and an upper order-to-disorder transition (UODT) was observed for PS-b-PnBMA/DOP solution when the quantity of DOP was carefully controlled. When the molecular weight of PS-b-PnBMA became larger, the LDOT did not appreciably change at smaller quantities of DOP. With larger quantities of DOP, the reduction in the UODT is greater than the increase in the LDOT. This behavior is discussed in accordance with a molecular theory predicated on a compressible random-phase approximation.

Reduction of Line Edge Roughness of Polystyrene-block-Poly(methyl methacrylate) Copolymer Nanopatterns By Introducing Hydrogen Bonding at the Junction Point of Two Block Chains

To apply well-defined block copolymer nanopatterns to next-generation lithography or high-density storage devices, small line edge roughness (LER) of nanopatterns should be realized. Although polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) copolymer (PS-b-PMMA) has been widely used to fabricate nanopatterns because of easy perpendicular orientation of the block copolymer nanodomains and effective removal of PMMA block by dry etching, the fabricated nanopatterns show poorer line edge roughness (LER) due to relatively small Flory-Huggins interaction parameter (χ) between PS and PMMA chains. Here, we synthesized PS-b-PMMA with urea (U) and N-(4-aminomethyl-benzyl)-4-hydroxymethyl-benzamide (BA) moieties at junction of PS and PMMA chains (PS-U-BA-PMMA) to improve the LER. The U-BA moieties serves as favorable interaction (hydrogen bonding) sites. The LER of PS line patterns obtained from PS-U-BA-PMMA was reduced ∼25% compared with that obtained from neat PS-b-PMMA without BA and U moieties. This is attributed to narrower interfacial width induced by hydrogen bonding between two blocks, which is confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering. This result implies that the introduction of hydrogen bonding into block copolymer interfaces offers an opportunity to fabricate well-defined nanopatterns with improved LER by block copolymer self-assembly, which could be a promising alternative to next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography.