Effect of laser irradiated silver doped polystyrene/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thin film for solar cell applications

Abstract

In the current research, the resist action of silver-doped polystyrene/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) solar thin film towards laser irradiation was observed. Moreover, silver-doped polystyrene nanoparticles were synthesized via a chemical technique while the PET film was purchased from the commercial market. Nd:YAG pulsed laser has been used to irradiate the samples at 2 minutes, 4 minutes, and 6 minutes respectively. The XRD (X-ray diffraction) pattern shows that silver-doped polystyrene peak at around angle θ = 26° tends to decrease after the bombardment of Nd:YAG pulsed laser. This indicates that the crystallinity of PET film decreased after laser irradiation. The Raman spectra have revealed the zwitter characteristics of silver-doped polystyrene are shifting of bands at 1380 cm⁻¹ and 1560 cm⁻¹ upon laser irradiation. For PET film, the Raman spectra showed that the exposed regions tend to change to cross-linking/chain-scissoring at 2 minutes and 4 minutes of irradiation. The surface roughness first increases and decreases upon irradiation. These results indicate that silver-doped polystyrene/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thin film is appropriate for solar cell applications.