Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
  • H01L31/04—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof adapted as photovoltaic [PV] conversion devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
  • H01L31/0248—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies
  • H01L31/0352—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions
  • H01L31/035272—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof characterised by their semiconductor bodies characterised by their shape or by the shapes, relative sizes or disposition of the semiconductor regions characterised by at least one potential jump barrier or surface barrier
  • H01L31/03529—Shape of the potential jump barrier or surface barrier
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
  • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
  • B82Y20/00—Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
  • H01L31/02—Details
  • H01L31/0216—Coatings
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
  • H01L31/18—Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of these devices or of parts thereof
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K2102/00—Constructional details relating to the organic devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K2102/10—Transparent electrodes, e.g. using graphene
  • H10K2102/101—Transparent electrodes, e.g. using graphene comprising transparent conductive oxides [TCO]
  • H10K2102/103—Transparent electrodes, e.g. using graphene comprising transparent conductive oxides [TCO] comprising indium oxides, e.g. ITO
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K30/00—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation
  • H10K30/10—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation comprising heterojunctions between organic semiconductors and inorganic semiconductors
  • H10K30/15—Sensitised wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, e.g. dye-sensitised TiO2
  • H10K30/152—Sensitised wide-bandgap semiconductor devices, e.g. dye-sensitised TiO2 the wide bandgap semiconductor comprising zinc oxide, e.g. ZnO
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K30/00—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation
  • H10K30/30—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation comprising bulk heterojunctions, e.g. interpenetrating networks of donor and acceptor material domains
  • H10K30/35—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation comprising bulk heterojunctions, e.g. interpenetrating networks of donor and acceptor material domains comprising inorganic nanostructures, e.g. CdSe nanoparticles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K30/00—Organic devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation
  • H10K30/50—Photovoltaic [PV] devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/10—Organic polymers or oligomers
  • H10K85/111—Organic polymers or oligomers comprising aromatic, heteroaromatic, or aryl chains, e.g. polyaniline, polyphenylene or polyphenylene vinylene
  • H10K85/113—Heteroaromatic compounds comprising sulfur or selene, e.g. polythiophene
  • H10K85/1135—Polyethylene dioxythiophene [PEDOT]; Derivatives thereof
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/10—Organic polymers or oligomers
  • H10K85/141—Organic polymers or oligomers comprising aliphatic or olefinic chains, e.g. poly N-vinylcarbazol, PVC or PTFE
  • H10K85/146—Organic polymers or oligomers comprising aliphatic or olefinic chains, e.g. poly N-vinylcarbazol, PVC or PTFE poly N-vinylcarbazol; Derivatives thereof
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
  • Y02E10/549—Organic PV cells
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
  • Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
  • Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method of fabricating a solar cell having a pho- toelectro-motive force characteristic in a visible ray region.
• Solar cells are usually fabricated in a P-N junction structure by using amorphous or polycrystalline silicon. Since solar cells made of silicon show high photoelectro- motive force efficiency compared to solar cells made of other materials, solar cells have been used early in an industrial field. In spite of this, high-priced silicon is used to fabricate solar cells, and prices of solar cells increase, and solar cells are used in a limited field.
• nanorods are added to an organic material and are used to form a photoelectro-motive force layer.
• nanorods are mixed with conductive polymer by using a sol-gel method so as to form a photoelectro-motive force layer.
• the organic material is used in the method and thus, various materials can be used in the method.
• nanostructures, such as nanoparticles or nanorods are previously formed and are mixed with the organic material. Thus, solar cells cannot be formed of a material in which nanostructures do not exist.
• the present invention provides a method of fabricating solar cells utilizing nanoparticles as well as using various materials in a simple manner.
• a method of fabricating a solar cell including: forming anodes on a substrate; forming a semiconductor raw material layer on the anodes; spin coating a polymer precursor layer on the semiconductor raw material layer; forming semiconductor nanoparticles from the semiconductor raw material layer, wherein a polymer layer is formed by performing heat treatment on the polymer precursor layer, so that a photoelectro- motive force layer made of the polymer layer in which the nanoparticles are embedded can be formed; and forming cathodes on the photoelectro-motive force layer.
• the nanoparticles may be at least one selected from the group consisting of ZnO, Cu 2
• HTL may be formed of poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) between the anodes and the photoelectro-motive force layer.
• PEDOT poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene
• an electron transport layer may be formed of one material selected from the group consisting of C 6 o, single wall carbon nanotubes, double wall carbon nanotubes, multiple wall carbon nanotubes, and a bundle of nanotubes, between the photoelectro-motive force layer and the cathodes.
• inorganic materials excluding the nanoparticles are not used, and the nanoparticles can be naturally formed when a polymer precursor is cured so that the nanoparticles need not to be previously formed and to be mixed. Since the nanoparticles in a semiconductor type can be naturally formed directly from a semiconductor raw material layer by using simple heat treatment, more various nanoparticles can be used in the solar cell. Since only polymer with low price that can be spin coated is used, a device can be very simply and fast fabricated.
• FIGS. 1 through 6 are cross-sectional views according to a process sequence for explaining a method of fabricating a solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a solar cell fabricated according to the present invention
• FIG. 8 is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) photo showing ZnO nanoparticles embedded in a polymer layer fabricated according to the present invention.
• FIG. 9 illustrates an energy band of a solar cell fabricated according to the present invention. Mode for the Invention
• FIGS. 1 through 6 are cross-sectional views according to a process sequence for explaining a method of fabricating a solar cell according to an embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a solar cell fabricated according to the present invention.
• a transparent inorganic substrate formed of a transparent inorganic material such as Al 2 O 3 , glass or quartz, or a transparent organic substrate formed of a transparent organic material, such as polyethylene terephthalate (abbreviated PET) (sometimes written polyterephthalate ethylene), polycarbonate, polyimide (PI), polyethylene naphthalate, PVC, PVP, PE or polyethersulphonate (PES), may be used as a substrate 10.
• PET polyethylene terephthalate
• PI polyimide
• PVC polyethylene naphthalate
• PVP polyethylene naphthalate
• PES polyethersulphonate
• an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) layer which becomes a transparent electrode, is deposited on the substrate 10 by using a sputtering process, as illustrated in FIG. 1.
• the ITO layer is used as anodes of the solar cell.
• a transparent conductive material such as ITO or F-doped tin dioxide (FTO), may be deposited on the substrate 10.
• a poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) solution is deposited in the shape of a layer on anodes 20 by using spin coating, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
• the thickness of the layer may be adjusted by adjusting revolutions per minute (rpm) and a revolution time of spin coating.
• rpm revolutions per minute
• a solvent is removed from the PEDOT solution by applying heat of 135 0 C for 30 minutes in an oven.
• the PEDOT layer from which a solvent is removed acts as a hole transport layer (HTL) 30 and prevents electrons from moving toward the anodes 20.
• the HTL 30 is not necessarily formed.
• a semiconductor raw material layer 40 is formed on the HTL 30, as illustrated in
• a Zn layer is deposited by using a thermal evaporation process to a thickness of about 5 nm.
• the semiconductor raw material layer 40 becomes a material for nanoparticles.
• the semiconductor raw material layer 40 is deposited by selecting a basic raw material so as to obtain nanoparticles having a desired composition.
• polyamic acid in the form of biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride- p-phenylenediamine which is a precursor of polyimide
• NMP N-methyl-2-pyrolidone
• a polymer precursor is produced by mixing poly N-vinylcarbazole (PVK) in the NMP solvent in which BPDA-PDA is dissolved, at a mole ratio of 1:1. PVK is agitated by using a ultrasonic agitator for two or more hours so as to more uniformly mix PVK in the NMP solvent.
• the polymer precursor which is the NMP solvent in which BPDA-PDA and PVK are mixed, is deposited on the semiconductor raw material layer 40 by using spin coating, thereby forming a polymer precursor layer 50, which is formed by adding polyamic acid to the PVK layer, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
• the thickness of the polymer precursor layer 50 may be adjusted by adjusting rpm and the revolution time of spin coating.
• the polymer precursor layer 50 may be formed by using spray or doctor blade, instead of spin coating.
• the NMP solvent is removed from the polymer precursor layer 50 by applying heat of 135 0 C for 30 minutes in an oven, like PEDOT processing.
• heat treatment H is performed at 350°C-360°C for two or more hours at an N 2 atmosphere, so as to cure polyamic acid as polyimide, as illustrated in FIG. 5.
• the semiconductor raw material layer 40 is combined with oxygen of polyamic acid and is finally formed as semiconductor nanoparticles 45, which is a ZnO nanoparticle, in a polymer layer 55, which is formed by mixing PI and PVK.
• heat treatment (H) is performed at a high temperature for a long time, the size of the nanoparticles increases. In this way, since the size and density of the nanoparticles may be simply adjusted according to the condition of heat treatment (H), efficiency of a photoelectro-motive force of a solar cell can be optimized according to an operating environment.
• the nanoparticles 45 may be one selected from the group consisting of
• the semiconductor raw material layer 40 may be formed of one material selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ge, Si, Sn, SiC, AlAs, AlP, AlSb, GaAs, GaN, GaP, GaSb, InAs, InP, InSb, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, ZnS, PbS, PbTe, Al x Gai_ x As, In x Gai_ x As, In x Ali_ x As, Cd x Zni_ x Te, Cd x Mni_ x Te, and Sn, instead of Zn.
• an electron transport layer (ETL) 70 is formed on a photoelectro-motive layer
• the ETL 70 may be formed of one material selected from the group consisting of C 6 o, single wall carbon nanotubes, double wall carbon nanotubes, multiple wall carbon nanotubes, and a bundle of nanotubes. However, the ETL 70 is not necessarily formed. Then, Al electrodes are deposited on the ETL 70 by using a thermal deposition process, thereby forming cathodes 80.
• the polymer layer 55 in which the nanoparticles 45 are embedded is used as the photoelectric-motive force layer 60, and the nanoparticles 45 are not previously separated but are automatically formed in the heat treatment process of forming the polymer layer 55. Since the nanoparticles in a semiconductor type can be naturally formed directly from the semiconductor raw material layer 40 through simple heat treatment, more various nanoparticles can be used in the solar cell. Since only polymer with low price that can be spin coated is used, a device can be very simply and fast fabricated.
• FIG. 8 is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) photo showing ZnO nanoparticles embedded in a polymer layer fabricated according to the present invention.
• the Zn layer is deposited to a thickness of 5 nm by using a thermal deposition process and then, the polymer precursor layer is formed by using the polymer precursor in which BPDA-PDA polyamic acid and PVK are dissolved in the NMP solvent. Then, the NMP solvent is removed by applying heat of 135 0 C for 30 minutes in an oven, and polyamic acid is cured by performing heat treatment at 350 0 C for two or more hours at an N 2 atmosphere. In this process, Zn is oxidized and is formed as ZnO nanoparticles. As shown in a scale bar of the photo, the size of the nanoparticles is 10 nm, and the nanoparticles are formed with uniform size and density.
• the solar cell fabricated according to the present invention constitutes an energy band diagram of FIG. 9. Since PI and PVK is in a mixed state, in this case, PVK having a smaller forbidden band than PI is superimposed in PI having a larger forbidden band than PVK.
• Photons that form incident light collide with electrons in a valence band that exists in the nanoparticles.
• the electrons in the valence band hop into a conductive band due to energy corresponding to wavelengths of photons received from the collided photons, as illustrated in FIG. 9.
• a PI layer is an insulator and does not concern movement of electrons and holes.
• the solar cell has a photoelectro-motive force due to the electrons and the holes that move toward the respective electrodes so that the solar cell can be operated as power.

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Citations (4)

• 2007
  • 2007-11-07 KR KR1020070113120A patent/KR20090047107A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2008
  • 2008-11-06 WO PCT/KR2008/006533 patent/WO2009061134A1/en active Application Filing

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