Members of the Jones’ group collaborate with the Department of Physics to publish work on electron extracting interlayers for organic photovoltaic cells in Journal of Materials Chemistry A. The paper demonstrates how a vacuum deposited ZnSe layer can be converted to ZnO by thermally annealing in air at 450 °C for efficient electron extraction in small molecule inverted photovoltaic cells. The conversion of ZnSe to ZnO was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) showed that the ZnSe_{(450 °C)} films had a Fermi level close to the conduction band edge, allowing for efficient electron extraction compared to the energetic barrier for extraction formed at the ZnSe_(RT) / C₆₀ interface.

Organic Photovoltaic Cells Utilising ZnO Electron Extraction Layers Produced Through Thermal Conversion of ZnSe

Author(s): E. New, I. Hancox, L. A. Rochford, M. Walker, C. Argent Dearden, C. F. McConville and T. S. Jones, J. Mater. Chem. A. (2014) DOI: 10.1039/C4TA04459B Link