Determining out-of-plane hole mobility in CuSCN via the time-of-flight technique to elucidate its function in perovskite solar cells
File(s)Mohan et al. Supporting information for publication.docx (2.09 MB) Mohan et al. Primary manuscript .docx (4.14 MB)
Supporting information
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) is a stable, low-cost, solution-processable p-type inorganic semiconductor used in numerous optoelectronic applications. Here, for the first time, we employ the time-of-flight (ToF) technique to measure the out-of-plane hole mobility of CuSCN films, enabled by the deposition of 4 μm-thick films using aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD). A hole mobility of ∼10–3 cm2/V s was measured with a weak electric field dependence of 0.005 cm/V1/2. Additionally, by measuring several 1.5 μm CuSCN films, we show that the mobility is independent of thickness. To further validate the suitability of our AACVD-prepared 1.5 μm-thick CuSCN film in device applications, we demonstrate its incorporation as a hole transport layer (HTL) in methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Our AACVD films result in devices with measured power conversion efficiencies of 10.4%, which compares favorably with devices prepared using spin-coated CuSCN HTLs (12.6%), despite the AACVD HTLs being an order of magnitude thicker than their spin-coated analogues. Improved reproducibility and decreased hysteresis were observed, owing to a combination of excellent film quality, high charge-carrier mobility, and favorable interface energetics. In addition to providing a fundamental insight into charge-carrier mobility in CuSCN, our work highlights the AACVD methodology as a scalable, versatile tool suitable for film deposition for use in optoelectronic devices.
Date Issued
2021-08-18
Date Acceptance
2021-07-30
Citation
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 2021, 13 (32), pp.38499-38507
ISSN
1944-8244
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
38499
End Page
38507
Journal / Book Title
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume
13
Issue
32
Copyright Statement
© 2021 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c09750
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000687172000055&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Materials Science
copper(I) thiocyanate
hole transport material
out-of-plane hole mobility
time-of-flight technique
perovskite solar cells
TRANSPORT MATERIAL
CHARGE-TRANSPORT
HIGH-EFFICIENCY
HYSTERESIS
CONDUCTIVITY
PERFORMANCE
LAYERS
FILMS
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-08-07