Influence of External Pressure on the Performance of Quantum Dot Solar Cells

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2016-09, Vol.8 (36), p.23947-23952
• Main Authors: Kim, Jaehoon, Jeong, Byeong Guk, Roh, Heebum, Song, Jiyun, Park, Myeongjin, Lee, Doh C, Bae, Wan Ki, Lee, Changhee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b07771

We report the influence of post-treatment via the external pressure on the device performance of quantum dot (QD) solar cells. The structural analysis together with optical and electrical characterization on QD solids reveal that the external pressure compacts QD active layers by removing the mesoscopic voids and enhances the charge carrier transport along QD solids, leading to significant increase in J SC of QD solar cells. Increasing the external pressure, by contrast, accompanies reduction in FF and V OC, yielding the trade-off relationship among J SC and FF and V OC in PCE of devices. Optimization at the external pressure in the present study at 1.4–1.6 MPa enables us to achieve over 10% increase in PCE of QD solar cells. The approach and results show that the control over the organization of QDs is the key for the charge transport properties in ensemble and also offer simple yet effective mean to enhance the electrical performance of transistors and solar cells using QDs.