Um dos grandes desafios do século XXI está na produção de energia limpa e renovável, já que a demanda mundial por energia continuará crescendo, assim como a necessidade de despoluir o planeta e de diminuir a emissão dos gases do efeito estufa. Nesse contexto, a conversão de energia solar em elétrica coloca-se como uma excelente alternativa, e com isso a dos dispositivos fotovoltaicos. A tecnologia fotovoltaica baseada no silício e em outros semicondutores orgânicos encontra-se em estágio relativamente avançado, porém o custo de produção e de manutenção a proíbe em uso de grande escala. Mais recentemente, iniciaram-se pesquisas com filmes de semicondutores orgânicos, e a rápida melhora na performance dessas células solares a coloca como promissora ao mercado fotovoltaico. Em nosso trabalho, realizamos estudos sobre a performance de dispositivos fotovoltaicos orgânicos baseados na estrutura de heterojunção, estudando a influência de vários parâmetros na performance dos dispositivos. Usamos como camada ativa para nossos dispositivos o poli(3-hexiltiofeno) (P3HT) regiorregular, que é um polímero condutor de gap eletrônico em torno de 1,8 eV misturado ao [6,6]-fenil-C61-ácido butírico-metil ester (PCBM). Essa mistura é apropriada à dissociação dos éxcitons gerados nas cadeias poliméricas pelos fótons absorvidos porque, sendo o PCBM muito eletronegativo, ele captura o elétron do éxciton antes do processo natural de recombinação. Como esse fenômeno ocorre em todo o volume da camada ativa, o dispositivo leva o nome de heterojunção de volume. A estrutura básica que usamos foi de ITO/P3HT-PCBM/Al, isto é, o ITO como eletrodo transparente e bom injetor de buracos e o alumínio como eletrodo injetor de elétrons. Outros dispositivos foram feitos adicionando uma camada transportadora de buracos entre o ITO e o polímero ativo, o Poli(3,4-etileno dióxido-tiofeno):poliestireno-sulfonado (PEDOT:PSS) e/ou cálcio (Ca) entre a camada de alumínio e o polímero. Verificamos que a performance do dispositivo fotovoltaico é bastante alterada quando mediante o contato utilizado, a espessura da camada ativa e a temperatura em que o tratamento térmico é realizado. Investigou-se também, os mecanismos de injeção, transporte e geração de portadores sob variação de temperatura, no intervalo de 90 à 330K. Foi mostrado que, mediante a variação da temperatura, a corrente de curto circuito (JSC), é governada principalmente pela mobilidade dos portadores. A eficiência dos dispositivos desenvolvidos neste trabalho é comparável aos principais valores obtidos na atualidade. Para obtenção destes resultados, foi necessária intensa pesquisa em processamento, principalmente mantendo todas as etapas de fabricação em atmosfera controlada. / One big challenge of the humanity along the 21st Century is to produce energy based on clean and renewable sources. The energy consumption certainly will increase, as well as the necessity in decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases. In this context, solar energy becomes an important alternative for the production of electric energy, in particular, that of photovoltaic devices. Photovoltaics made of silicon and of other inorganic semiconductors are already available, but due to the high cost is not an alternative to produce energy in a large scale. More recently, the organic photovoltaics, due to their quick progress, have becoming as promising technology for the solar energy market. In this work, we studied bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics, varying several parameters and its influence on the device performance. We used regio-regular poli(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), that has an electronic gap close to 1.8 eV, mixed with [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). PCBM acts in order to dissociate the photogenerated exciton because, being highly electronegative, it captures the electron form the exciton before the recombination process. We used as basic structure the ITO/P3HT-PCBM/Al. ITO as transparent electrode and injector of holes, and aluminum as the electrons injector electrode. In other devices we added a thin layer of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), as hole transport layer and/or calcium (Ca) between the Al and the polymer. We verify that the device performance changes considerably with the insertion of such layers, and with the thickness of the active layer and the annealing treatment. We also investigated phenomena related to injection, generation and transport of charge carriers, in the 90-330 K temperature range. We showed that the temperature is the main factor that governs the short-circuit current (JSC). It is important to remark that our devices exhibited similar efficiency compared to that of the literature.

Um dos grandes desafios do século XXI está na produção de energia limpa e renovável, já que a demanda mundial por energia continuará crescendo, assim como a necessidade de despoluir o planeta e de diminuir a emissão dos gases do efeito estufa. Nesse contexto, a conversão de energia solar em elétrica coloca-se como uma excelente alternativa, e com isso a dos dispositivos fotovoltaicos. A tecnologia fotovoltaica baseada no silício e em outros semicondutores orgânicos encontra-se em estágio relativamente avançado, porém o custo de produção e de manutenção a proíbe em uso de grande escala. Mais recentemente, iniciaram-se pesquisas com filmes de semicondutores orgânicos, e a rápida melhora na performance dessas células solares a coloca como promissora ao mercado fotovoltaico. Em nosso trabalho, realizamos estudos sobre a performance de dispositivos fotovoltaicos orgânicos baseados na estrutura de heterojunção, estudando a influência de vários parâmetros na performance dos dispositivos. Usamos como camada ativa para nossos dispositivos o poli(3-hexiltiofeno) (P3HT) regiorregular, que é um polímero condutor de gap eletrônico em torno de 1,8 eV misturado ao [6,6]-fenil-C61-ácido butírico-metil ester (PCBM). Essa mistura é apropriada à dissociação dos éxcitons gerados nas cadeias poliméricas pelos fótons absorvidos porque, sendo o PCBM muito eletronegativo, ele captura o elétron do éxciton antes do processo natural de recombinação. Como esse fenômeno ocorre em todo o volume da camada ativa, o dispositivo leva o nome de heterojunção de volume. A estrutura básica que usamos foi de ITO/P3HT-PCBM/Al, isto é, o ITO como eletrodo transparente e bom injetor de buracos e o alumínio como eletrodo injetor de elétrons. Outros dispositivos foram feitos adicionando uma camada transportadora de buracos entre o ITO e o polímero ativo, o Poli(3,4-etileno dióxido-tiofeno):poliestireno-sulfonado (PEDOT:PSS) e/ou cálcio (Ca) entre a camada de alumínio e o polímero. Verificamos que a performance do dispositivo fotovoltaico é bastante alterada quando mediante o contato utilizado, a espessura da camada ativa e a temperatura em que o tratamento térmico é realizado. Investigou-se também, os mecanismos de injeção, transporte e geração de portadores sob variação de temperatura, no intervalo de 90 à 330K. Foi mostrado que, mediante a variação da temperatura, a corrente de curto circuito (JSC), é governada principalmente pela mobilidade dos portadores. A eficiência dos dispositivos desenvolvidos neste trabalho é comparável aos principais valores obtidos na atualidade. Para obtenção destes resultados, foi necessária intensa pesquisa em processamento, principalmente mantendo todas as etapas de fabricação em atmosfera controlada. / One big challenge of the humanity along the 21st Century is to produce energy based on clean and renewable sources. The energy consumption certainly will increase, as well as the necessity in decreasing the emission of greenhouse gases. In this context, solar energy becomes an important alternative for the production of electric energy, in particular, that of photovoltaic devices. Photovoltaics made of silicon and of other inorganic semiconductors are already available, but due to the high cost is not an alternative to produce energy in a large scale. More recently, the organic photovoltaics, due to their quick progress, have becoming as promising technology for the solar energy market. In this work, we studied bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics, varying several parameters and its influence on the device performance. We used regio-regular poli(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), that has an electronic gap close to 1.8 eV, mixed with [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). PCBM acts in order to dissociate the photogenerated exciton because, being highly electronegative, it captures the electron form the exciton before the recombination process. We used as basic structure the ITO/P3HT-PCBM/Al. ITO as transparent electrode and injector of holes, and aluminum as the electrons injector electrode. In other devices we added a thin layer of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), as hole transport layer and/or calcium (Ca) between the Al and the polymer. We verify that the device performance changes considerably with the insertion of such layers, and with the thickness of the active layer and the annealing treatment. We also investigated phenomena related to injection, generation and transport of charge carriers, in the 90-330 K temperature range. We showed that the temperature is the main factor that governs the short-circuit current (JSC). It is important to remark that our devices exhibited similar efficiency compared to that of the literature.

For more than 20 years, scientists have studied solar cells made from organic semiconductors. Throughout this time, device structures have evolved from bilayer devices to bulk heterojunction (BHJ) devices and even though efficiencies are approaching 10%, scientists still know relatively little about the transport of charge carriers and recombination mechanisms in these materials. Novel structures, based on lateral BHJ solar cells, have proven to be versatile tools to study transport and recombination mechanisms. In addition, these structures can easily be employed by researchers and solar cell manufacturers to determine the quality and measure the improvement of their materials. For these studies, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) has been employed due to its wide use among researchers as well as potential for commercialization. DC photocurrent measurements as a function of device length have yielded the mobility-lifetime product and the generation rate of free carriers within these BHJ devices. In addition to these parameters, the recombination rate as a function of light intensity provides information about the mechanisms of recombination. For example, by measuring the recombination rate as a function of applied electric field and light intensity we have found that recombination is unimolecular in nature and shifts to bimolecular at increased electric field strengths. Additionally, the mobility-lifetime product, generation rate, and recombination mechanism have been studied as a function of applied electric field, illumination spectrum, illumination intensity, etc. This information has provided much insight on physics of the P3HT:PCBM material system which did not exist before these studies. / text

Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκαν λεπτά υμένια οξειδίου του αλουμινίου (Al2O3) και οζειδίου του ζιρκονίου (ZrO2). Η ανάπτυξη των οξειδίων έγινε πάνω σε υπόστρωμα γερμανίου (Ge) με την τεχνική εναπόθεσης ατομικού στρώματος (Atomic Layer Deposition, ALD). Επίσης μελετήθηκαν υμένια οξειδίου του βολφραμίου (WO3), των οποίων η εναπόθεση έγινε με δυο διαφορετικές τεχνικές, πάνω σε υπόστρωμα P3HT:PCBM. Η μελέτη πραγματοποιήθηκε σε συνθήκες υπερυψηλού κενού (Ultra High Vacuum, UHV) με επιφανειακά ευαίσθητες τεχνικές. Κύριος στόχος αυτής της εργασίας, είναι για τα οξείδια αλουμινίου και ζιρκονίου η διερεύνηση της χημικής σύστασης και της ηλεκτρονιακής δομής ενώ θα γίνει μια εκτίμηση του πάχους των υμενίων καθώς και σύγκριση με την αναμενόμενη τιμή συμφωνα με την διαδικασία παρασκευής. Για οξείδια του βολφραμίου έγινε μελέτη τόσο της επιφανειακής χημικής σύστασης όσο και της ηλεκτρονιακής δομής της διεπιφάνειας του οξειδίου του βολφραμίου (WO3) με το υπόστρωμα P3HT:PCBM καθώς και μία σύγκριση των αποτελεσμάτων ανάμεσα στην εξάχνωση με δέσμη ηλεκτρονίων (Electron Beam Evaporation) και τη μέθοδο διαλύματος-πηκτώματος (Sol-Gel) τεχνικές οι οποίες χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για την εναπόθεση των υμενίων οξειδίου του βολφραμίου. / In the present work,studied thin films of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) thin films. Atomic Layer Deposition technique (ALD) was used for the growth of oxide on the germanium (Ge) substrate. Also studied films of tungsten oxide (WO3), which were deposited with two different techniques, onto P3HT:PCBM substrate. The study was conducted under conditions of UHV (Ultra High Vacuum) using surface sensitive techniques. The main objective of this work was to investigate the chemical composition and electronic structure and make an estimate of the thickness of aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide thin films. The thickness was compared with the expected value according to the manufacturing process. For the tungsten oxides were studied the surface chemical composition and the electronic structure of the WO3/P3HT:PCBM interface as well as a comparison of results between the Electron Beam Evaporation and Sol-Gel method, techniques which were used for the deposition of thin films of tungsten oxide.

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá studiem plasmonicky navýšené absorpce vedoucí ke zlepšení účinnosti organických solárních článků. K navýšení absorpce světla ve fotoaktivní vrstvě jsou použity koloidní nanočástice stříbra. Rozptyl světla z nanočástic střibra do fotoaktivní vrstvy představuje jedno z možných řešení, jak navýšit celkovou účinnost fotovoltaických zařízení. Simulace elektromagnetických jevů jsou pro statické podmínky prováděny v softwaru Lumerical (Lumerical Solutions, Inc.). Je zkoumána absorpce ve fotoaktivní vrstvě v závislosti na konfiguraci stříbrných nanočástic. Simulace potvrzují, že ve fotoaktivní vrstvě, která je modifikovaná nanočásticemi stříbra, dochází k navýšení absorpce. Abychom potvrdili výsledky simulací, bylo vyrobeno několik stříbrem modifikovaných vzorků. Vzorky byly pro tento druh experimentu připravené z poly(3-hexyltiofenu):[6,6]-fenyl-C61-butyric-acid-metyl esteru. U některých, nanočásticemi stříbra modifikovaných, vzorků dochází k navýšení tvorby excitonů, v důsledku čehož je pozorován nárůst fotoproudu. V této práci je zahrnut teoretický i experimentální přístup k dané problematice.

Le microscope à force atomique (AFM) permet de caractériser avec une excellente résolution spatiale les surfaces d’échantillons de différentes natures et peut être mis en œuvre dans des milieux variés. Cette versatilité a favorisé le développement d’un grand nombre de techniques dérivées, destinées à investiguer diverses propriétés physiques locales. Le LGEP a ainsi réalisé un module, le Résiscope, capable de mesurer la résistance électrique locale à la surface d’un échantillon polarisé en continu, sur une gamme de 11 décades. Mise au point en mode contact, où la pointe exerce en permanence une force sur l’échantillon, cette technique fonctionne très bien sur des matériaux durs, mais trouve ses limites sur des échantillons mous ou fragiles puisque dans certaines conditions, la pointe peut altérer leur surface. Pour de tels échantillons, un mode contact intermittent, dans lequel la pointe vient à intervalles réguliers toucher très brièvement la surface, est plus approprié, mais complique la réalisation des mesures électriques. Le but de la thèse consistait à lever cette difficulté en modifiant le Résiscope pour pouvoir l’associer au « Pulsed Force Mode », mode intermittent où la pointe oscille à une fréquence de 100Hz à 2000Hz.Différentes évolutions matérielles et logicielles ont été apportées pour permettre le suivi temporel détaillé du signal de résistance électrique à chaque établissement/rupture de contact (indispensable pour passer en revue les phénomènes liés à l’intermittence), de même que pour pouvoir travailler à des vitesses de balayage acceptables. Pour l’imagerie, les meilleurs contrastes ont été obtenus grâce à une électronique de synchronisation et de traitement prenant en compte les valeurs de résistance électrique à des moments bien précis. Pour tester ce nouveau système, nous avons dans un premier temps comparé les courbes de résistance et de déflexion que nous obtenons par ce mode avec celles considérées classiquement dans le mode approche-retrait. Nous avons ensuite étudié l’influence des principaux paramètres (fréquence et amplitude d’oscillation, force d’appui, type de pointe, etc.) sur les mesures topographiques et électriques, en utilisant le HOPG comme matériau de référence. Ces essais ont notamment permis de mettre en évidence un retard quasi systématique du signal électrique par rapport au signal de déflexion (autre que le temps de mesure propre au Résiscope), dont nous n’avons pu élucider l’origine. Une fois ces connaissances acquises, nous avons étudié deux types d’échantillons organiques, l’un à caractère académique – des monocouches auto-assemblées d’alcanethiols (SAMs), l’autre à finalité plus applicative – des couches minces formées d’un réseau interpénétré de deux constituants (P3HT:PCBM) destinées aux cellules photovoltaïques. Dans les deux cas nous avons montré la pertinence de l’outil Résiscope en mode intermittent pour obtenir des informations qualitatives et quantitatives. Parallèlement à ces travaux sur matériaux fragiles, nous avons mené une étude annexe sur un phénomène de croissance de matière à caractère isolant constaté dans des conditions particulières sur différents matériaux durs, qui a été interprété comme la formation de polymère de friction sous l’effet des nano-glissements répétés associés à la déflexion du levier.Ces travaux ont été réalisés dans le cadre d’une convention CIFRE avec la société Concept Scientifique Instruments, adossée au projet ANR « MELAMIN » (P2N 2011). / The atomic force microscope (AFM) allows to characterize with excellent spatial resolution samples of different types of surfaces and can be implemented in various environments. This versatility has encouraged the development of a large number of derivative technics, intended to investigate various local physical properties. The LGEP thus achieved a module, the Résiscope, capable of measuring the local electrical resistance on the surface of a sample polarized continuously, on a range of 11 decades. Developed in contact mode, where the tip continuously exerts a force on the sample, this technic works well on hard materials, but finds its limits on soft or fragile samples since under certain conditions, the tip can alter the surface. For such samples, an intermittent contact mode, in which the tip comes at regular intervals touch very briefly the surface, is more appropriate, but complicates the achievement of electrical measurements. The aim of this thesis was to overcome this difficulty by changing the Résiscope to be able to join the "Pulsed Force Mode", intermittent mode where the tip oscillates at a frequency of 100Hz to 2000Hz. Different hardware and software changes have been made to permit the detailed temporal monitoring of the electrical resistance signal to each make / break contact (necessary to review the phenomena related to intermittency), as well as to be able to work in acceptable scan speeds. For imaging, the best contrasts were obtained through an electronic timing and treatment taking into account the electrical resistance values at specific times.To test this new system, we have initially compared resistance and deflection curves we get by this mode with those considered classically in the force-distance curves mode. We then investigated the influence of main parameters (frequency and amplitude of oscillation, setpoint, coating of the tips, etc.) on the topographical and electrical measurements, using the HOPG as reference material. These tests resulted to highlight a nearly systematic delay of the electrical signal relative to the deflection signal (other than the Resiscope measure time), which we were not able to elucidate the origin. Once these knowledge acquired, we studied two types of organic samples, one in academic nature - Self-Assembled Monolayers of alkanethiols (SAMs), the other more applicative purpose – formed of thin layers of an interpenetrating network of two components (P3HT:PCBM) for photovoltaic cells. In both cases we have shown the relevance of the Resiscope tool in intermittent mode to obtain qualitative and quantitative information. In addition to these work on fragile materials, we conducted an annex study on a phenomenon of growth material of insulating nature found in special conditions on various hard materials, which has been interpreted as the friction polymer formation as a result of repeatedly nano-sliding associated with the deflection of the cantilever. These investigations were conducted under a CIFRE agreement with the Concept Scientific Instruments company, backed by the ANR MELAMIN» (P2N 2011) project.