Characteristics of indium-free GZO/Ag/GZO and AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrode grown by dual target DC sputtering at room temperature for low-cost organic photovoltaics

• Published in: Solar energy materials and solar cells Vol. 93; no. 11; pp. 1994 - 2002
• Main Authors: Park, Ho-Kyun, Kang, Jae-Wook, Na, Seok-In, Kim, Don-Yu, Kim, Han-Ki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.11.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; AZO/Ag/AZO; Electrodes; Energy; Equipments, installations and applications; Exact sciences and technology; GZO/Ag/GZO; Multilayer electrode; Natural energy; Organic photovoltaics; Photovoltaic conversion; Photovoltaics; Q1; Sheet resistance; solar cells; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Spectroscopy; Temperature; Transmittance; Zinc; Multilayer electrode; GZO/Ag/GZO; Organic photovoltaics; AZO/Ag/AZO; Transmittance; Sheet resistance; Interfacial layer; Costs; Free surface; Organic solar cells; Sputtering; Surface effect; Sheet resistivity; Direct current; Depth profile; Optical properties; Surface properties; Auger electron spectrometry; Heterojunction; Stability; Multilayer; Electrical properties; Oxide layer; Photovoltaic system; Optical surface; Indium; Surface plasmon; Layer thickness; Manufacturing process; Preparation; Electron spectrometry; Room temperature
• ISSN: 0927-0248; 1879-3398
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2009.07.016

We compared the electrical, optical, structural and surface properties of indium-free Ga-doped ZnO (GZO)/Ag/GZO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/Ag/AZO multilayer electrodes deposited by dual target direct current sputtering at room temperature for low-cost organic photovoltaics. It was shown that the electrical and optical properties of the GZO/Ag/GZO and AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrodes could be improved by the insertion of an Ag layer with optimized thickness between oxide layers, due to its very low resistivity and surface plasmon effect. In addition, the Auger electron spectroscopy depth profile results for the GZO/Ag/GZO and AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrodes showed no interfacial reaction between the Ag layer and GZO or AZO layer, due to the low preparation temperature and the stability of the Ag layer. Moreover, the bulk heterojunction organic solar cell fabricated on the multilayer electrodes exhibited higher power conversion efficiency than the organic solar cells fabricated on the single GZO or AZO layer, due to much lower sheet resistance of the multilayer electrode. This indicates that indium-free GZO/Ag/GZO and AZO/Ag/AZO multilayer electrodes are a promising low-cost and low-temperature processing electrode scheme for low-cost organic photovoltaics.