Göbelt, M.; Keding, R.; Schmitt, S.W.; Hoffmann, B.; Jäckle, S.; Latzel, M.; Radmilovic, V.V.; Radmilovic, V.R.; Spiecker, E.; Christiansen, S.: Encapsulation of silver nanowire networks by atomic layer deposition for indium-free transparent electrodes. Nano Energy 16 (2015), p. 196-206
10.1016/j.nanoen.2015.06.027
Abstract:
We report on the development of a novel nano-composite transparent electrode material to be used in various energy applications e.g. as contacts for solar cells, composed of a wet- chemically synthesized silver nanowire (AgNW) network encapsulated in a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) which was deposited with nano-scale precision by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The AgNWs form a random network on a substrate of choice when being drop casted. ALD encapsulation of AgNWs guarantees a conformal and thickness controlled coating of the wires e.g. by the selected aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO). Annealing of the AgNWs prior to ALD coating, yield a local sintering of AgNWs at their points of intersection, which improves the conductivity of the composite electrodes by reducing their sheet resistance. To demonstrate the performance of these AgNW/AZO composite transparent electrodes, they were used as a top electrode on wafer-based silicon (Si) - solar cells. A novel combination of scanning electron microscopy and image processing is used to determine thedegree of percolation of the AgNWs on large areas of the nano-composite AgNW/AZO electrodes. Our results show that the solar cell with percolated AgNW/AZO electrode show the highest short circuit current density (28 mA/cm2) and a series resistance in the same order of magnitude compared to reference solar cells with a thermally evaporated silver grid electrode. The electrode example we chose reveals that the developed AgNW/AZO electrode is a technologically relevant and cheap alternative to conventional solar cell screen printed grid electrodes, which contain '"' 95% more Ag per device area, with a high potential to be further systematically optimized by the presented image processing method.