Tantalum Oxide as an Efficient Alternative Electron Transporting Layer for Perovskite Solar Cells

oleh: Meenal Deo, Alexander Möllmann, Jinane Haddad, Feray Ünlü, Ashish Kulkarni, Maning Liu, Yasuhiro Tachibana, Daniel Stadler, Aman Bhardwaj, Tim Ludwig, Thomas Kirchartz, Sanjay Mathur

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-02-01

Deskripsi

Electron transporting layers facilitating electron extraction and suppressing hole recombination at the cathode are crucial components in any thin-film solar cell geometry, including that of metal–halide perovskite solar cells. Amorphous tantalum oxide (Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>) deposited by spin coating was explored as an electron transport material for perovskite solar cells, achieving power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to ~14%. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements revealed that the extraction of photogenerated electrons is facilitated due to proper alignment of bandgap energies. Steady-state photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) verified efficient charge transport from perovskite absorber film to thin Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> layer. Our findings suggest that tantalum oxide as an n-type semiconductor with a calculated carrier density of ~7 × 10<sup>18</sup>/cm<sup>3</sup> in amorphous Ta<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> films, is a potentially competitive candidate for an electron transport material in perovskite solar cells.