Nano-sized Ag-inserted amorphous ZnSnO3 multilayer electrodes for cost-efficient inverted organic solar cells

A sheet resistance- and optical transmittance-tunable amorphous ZnSnO3 (ZTO) multilayer electrode created through the insertion of a nano-scale Ag layer is demonstrated as an indium-free transparent conducting electrode for cost-efficient inverted organic solar cells (IOSCs). Due to the antireflection effect, the ZTO/Ag/ZTO/glass exhibited a high transmittance of 86.29% in the absorption wavelength region of the organic active layer and a low resistivity of 3.24×10−5 Ω cm, even though the ZTO/Ag/ZTO electrode was prepared at room temperature. The metallic conductivity of the electrode indicates that its electrical conductivity is dominated by the nano-scale Ag metal layer. In addition, optimization and control of the thickness of the nano-scale Ag layer are important in obtaining highly transparent ZTO/Ag/ZTO electrodes, because antireflection is strongly influenced by Ag thickness. Moreover, IOSCs fabricated on optimized ZTO/Ag/ZTO electrodes with Ag thicknesses of 12 nm showed power conversion efficiencies (2.55%) comparable to that of an IOSC prepared on a crystalline ITO electrode (2.45%), due to the low sheet resistance and high optical transmittance in the range of 400–600 nm. The performances of ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayer electrodes indicate that ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayers are promising as indium-free, transparent electrode substitutes for conventional ITO electrodes in cost-efficient IOSCs.

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► We examine the effect of Ag thickness on characteristics of ZTO/Ag/ZTO multilayer electrodes for inverted organic solar cells (IOSCs).
► At optimized Ag thickness, the ZTO/Ag.ZTO exhibited a high transmittance of 86.29% and a low resistivity of 3.24×10−5 Ω cm.
► IOSCs fabricated on optimized ZTO/Ag/ZTO electrodes showed power conversion efficiencies of 2.55% comparable to that of an IOSC prepared on a crystalline ITO electrode of 2.45%.