ABSTRACT
Nanocrystal (NC) films have been proposed as an alternative to bulk semiconductors for electronic applications such as solar cells and photodetectors. One outstanding challenge in NC electronics is to robustly control the carrier type to create stable p-n homojunction-based devices. We demonstrate that the postsynthetic addition of Cd to InAs nanocrystals switches the resulting InAs:Cd NC films from n-type to p-type when operating in a field effect transistor. This method presents a stable, facile way to control the carrier type of InAs nanocrystals prior to deposition. We present two mechanisms to explain the observed switch in carrier type. In mechanism 1, Cd atoms are incorporated at In sites in the lattice and act as acceptor defects, forming a partially compensated p-type semiconductor. In mechanism 2, Cd atoms passivate donor-type InAs surface states and create acceptor-type surface states. This work represents a critical step toward the creation of p-n homojunction-based NC electronics.
ABSTRACT
We fabricate PbS colloidal quantum dot (QD)-based solar cells using a fullerene derivative as the electron-transporting layer (ETL). A thiol treatment and oxidation process are used to modify the morphology and electronic structure of the QD films, resulting in devices that exhibit a fill factor (FF) as high as 62%. We also show that, for QDs with a band gap of less than 1 eV, an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.47 V can be achieved. The power conversion efficiency reaches 1.3% under 1 sun AM1.5 test conditions and 2.4% under monochromatic infrared (lambda=1310 nm) illumination. A consistent mechanism for device operation is developed through a circuit model and experimental measurements, shedding light on new approaches for optimization of solar cell performance by modifying the interface between the QDs and the neighboring charge transport layers.
