Enhancing Efficiency in Transparent Thin-Film ZnO/P3HT Solar Cells by the Improved Crystalline Quality of ZnO

Face to the suitable ZnO/P3HT heterojunction, improved crystalline quality of zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films is achieved by a simple and effective approach of extending the sputtering time, further the performance of transparent thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) with P3HT/ZnO heterojunction is greatly enhanced. With extending the sputtering time, the continuous ZnO thin films of necessary thickness is formed on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate and their crystalline quality is also significantly improved, while the grain size increases and become stable with longer than 60 min. The surface morphology of ZnO thin films with sputtering time of 90 min is smooth. With extending the sputtering time, ZnO thin films show excellent optical property. The improved crystalline quality of ZnO thin films obviously affect the performance of the P3HT-ZnO SCs, reaching highest fill factor to 0.44, with the sputtering time of 90 min.

Automated summary

By extending the sputtering time, the crystalline quality of ZnO thin films is improved, leading to enhanced optical properties and significantly improved performance of P3HT-ZnO solar cells.