Defect density and performance influenced by ozone treatment of ZnO interface in inverted organic solar cell

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has great potential as an electron transport layer (ETL) for producing efficient and stable organic solar cells. The effect of ozone treatment on ZnO working as the ETL in the organic solar cell has been studied by analyzing crystallinity, the defect density of states, and charge carrier dynamics from transient absorption spectroscopy to understand its role in the improvement in the interface between ETL and active layers. We have observed that a 10-minute continuous ozone treatment of ZnO film demonstrates improvement in its crystallinity leading to a 23% increment in short circuit current. The improvement in the crystallinity has been confirmed by the morphological and structural analysis using SEM and GIXRD. These analyses reveal the formation of a flake-like structure and an increase in peak intensity in GIXRD. It has been observed that ozone exposure has significantly affected the carrier recombination resistance, ideality factor of the device. From transient absorption spectroscopy, it has been found that for 10 min ozone-treated ZnO film has an average carrier transport time (661.79 ps), which is smallest as compared to untreated film or over treated film leading to faster carrier extraction through ETL. Further, the study of defect density of states shows that optimized ozonetreated film show 22.08% decrease in defects as compared to the control device, which primarily reflected as the improvement in the current density leading to increase in device efficiency from 2.95% to 3.75%.

Automated summary

The effect of ozone treatment on ZnO as an electron transport layer in organic solar cells was studied, with a 10-minute treatment leading to improved crystallinity and increased short circuit current. SEM and GIXRD analyses confirmed the improved crystallinity, showing a flake-like structure and increased peak intensity. The ozone treatment also decreased defects, improving current density and device efficiency.