Effect of UV-ozone process on the ZnO interlayer in the inverted organic solar cells

Abstract

ZnO interlayer is crucial for the performance of inverted organic solar cells (IOSCs). Herein, we investigate the effects of short UV-ozone treatment of ZnO nanofilms (ZnONFs) on the performance of IOSCs with a structure of ITO/ZnONFs/P3HT:PCBM/MoO₃/Ag. There is a 17.59% and 32.60% increase in the short circuit current and power conversion efficiency, respectively, after the treatment of the device for 20 seconds. Furthermore, the optimized device showed excellent stability under ambient conditions for more than four weeks without encapsulation. We conclude that the UV-ozone treatment oxidizes oxygen vacancy defects of ZnONFs, thereby decreasing the internal resistance and improving charge transfer at the ZnONFs/polymer interface. However, a longer treatment time will produce oxygen interstitial defects, which dramatically increases the work functions of ZnONFs and deteriorates the contact between ZnONFs and the active layer. As a result, the process of charge transfer will be blocked, resulting in a sharp drop in the performances of IOSCs.