Correlation between Chemical and Electronic Properties of Solution-Processed Nickel Oxide

Solution-processed nickel oxide (sNiO) is known to be an excellent charge-selective interlayer in optoelectronic devices. Its beneficial properties can be further enhanced by an oxygen plasma (OP) treatment. In order to elucidate the mechanism behind this improvement, we use infrared transmission and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to probe the bulk and surface properties of the sNiO. We find that increasing the annealing temperature of the sNiO not only increases the structural order of the material but also reduces the concentration of nickel hydroxide species present in the bulk and on the surface of the film. This results in a decrease of the work function, while an additional OP treatment raises the work function to between 5.5 and 5.6 eV. For all annealing temperatures investigated, the consequences of the OP treatment are identified as reactions of both NiO and β-Ni­(OH)₂ to form thin β-NiOOH phases in the first atomic layers. Our results emphasize the importance of understanding the correlation between the preparation and resulting properties of sNiO layers and provides further insight into the interpretation of interface properties of NiO

Functionalized Nickel Oxide Hole Contact Layers: Work Function versus Conductivity

Nickel oxide (NiO) is a widely used material for efficient hole extraction in optoelectronic devices. However, its surface characteristics strongly depend on the processing history and exposure to adsorbates. To achieve controllability of the electronic and chemical properties of solution-processed nickel oxide (sNiO), we functionalize its surface with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 4-cyanophenylphosphonic acid. A detailed analysis of infrared and photoelectron spectroscopy shows the chemisorption of the molecules with a nominal layer thickness of around one monolayer and gives an insight into the chemical composition of the SAM. Density functional theory calculations reveal the possible binding configurations. By the application of the SAM, we increase the sNiO work function by up to 0.8 eV. When incorporated in organic solar cells, the increase in work function and improved energy level alignment to the donor does not lead to a higher fill factor of these cells. Instead, we observe the formation of a transport barrier, which can be reduced by increasing the conductivity of the sNiO through doping with copper oxide. We conclude that the widespread assumption of maximizing the fill factor by only matching the work function of the oxide charge extraction layer with the energy levels in the active material is a too narrow approach. Successful implementation of interface modifiers is only possible with a sufficiently high charge carrier concentration in the oxide interlayer to support efficient charge transfer across the interface

Structure–Property Relationship of Phenylene-Based Self-Assembled Monolayers for Record Low Work Function of Indium Tin Oxide

Studying the structure–property relations of tailored dipolar phenyl and biphenylphosphonic acids, we report self-assembled monolayers with a significant decrease in the work function (WF) of indium–tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. Whereas the strengths of the dipoles are varied through the different molecular lengths and the introduction of electron-withdrawing fluorine atoms, the surface energy is kept constant through the electron-donating <i>N</i>,<i>N-</i>dimethylamine head groups. The self-assembled monolayer formation and its modification of the electrodes are investigated via infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, and photoelectron spectroscopy. The WF decrease in ITO correlates with increasing molecular dipoles. The lowest ever recorded WF of 3.7 eV is achieved with the fluorinated biphenylphosphonic acid