In the last years, hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells have attracted great interest in photovoltaic research due to their expected potential to combine the advantages of both material classes, the excellent electrical properties and stability of the inorganic and the low-cost processability of the organic semiconductors. This work is focused on hybrid solar cells based on n-doped crystalline Si as the inorganic and the polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) as the organic part of the device. The hole-conducting organic semiconductors poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) and 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-MeOTAD) are investigated as electron blocking interlayers to reduce the parasitic electron current into the metal top contact and thereby increase the efficiency of the solar cell. In this context, P3HT is identified to be insufficient as an interlayer material due to unfavorable hysteresis effects. On the other hand, for solar cells with a Spiro-MeOTAD interlayer, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) is significantly increased. This is mainly attributed to an increased short-circuit current density. For the best performing device, a PCE of 14.3% is achieved, which is one of the highest values reported for this type of hybrid solar cells so far.
In the last years, hybrid organic/silicon solar cells have attracted great interest in photovoltaic research due to their potential to become a low-cost alternative for the conventionally used silicon pn-junction solar cells. This work is focused on hybrid solar cells based on the polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl), which was deposited on n-doped crystalline silicon via spin-coating under ambient conditions. By employing an anisotropic etching step with potassium hydroxide (KOH), the reflection losses at the silicon surface were reduced. Hereby, the short-circuit current density of the hybrid devices was increased by 31%, leading to a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.1% compared to a PCE of 10.7% for the devices without KOH etching. In addition, the contacts were improved by replacing gold with the more conductive silver as top grid material to reduce the contact resistance and by introducing a thin (∼0.5 nm) lithium fluoride layer between the silicon and the aluminum backside contact to improve electron collection and hole blocking. Hereby, the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor of the hybrid solar cells were further improved and devices with very high PCE up to 14.2% have been realized.
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