Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications
Hydrothermally synthesized zinc oxide nanowire arrays have been used as nanostructured acceptors in emerging photovoltaic (PV) devices. The nanoscale dimensions of such arrays allow for enhanced charge extraction from PV active layers, but the device performance critically depends on the nanowire ar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2015
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99748 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3329-9099 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8893-2421 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7453-9031 |
| _version_ | 1811093839704752128 |
|---|---|
| author | Kiani, Amirreza Nicaise, Sam Cheng, Jian Wei Jayce Gradecak, Silvija Berggren, Karl K. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Kiani, Amirreza Nicaise, Sam Cheng, Jian Wei Jayce Gradecak, Silvija Berggren, Karl K. |
| author_sort | Kiani, Amirreza |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Hydrothermally synthesized zinc oxide nanowire arrays have been used as nanostructured acceptors in emerging photovoltaic (PV) devices. The nanoscale dimensions of such arrays allow for enhanced charge extraction from PV active layers, but the device performance critically depends on the nanowire array pitch and alignment. In this study, we templated hydrothermally-grown ZnO nanowire arrays via high-resolution electron-beam-lithography defined masks, achieving the dual requirements of high-resolution patterning at a pitch of several hundred nanometers, while maintaining hole sizes small enough to control nanowire array morphology. We investigated several process conditions, including the effect of annealing sputtered and spincoated ZnO seed layers on nanowire growth, to optimize array property metrics—branching from individual template holes and off-normal alignment. We found that decreasing template hole size decreased branching prevalence but also reduced alignment. Annealing seed layers typically improved alignment, and sputtered seed layers yielded nanowire arrays superior to spincoated seed layers. We show that these effects arose from variation in the size of the template holes relative to the ZnO grain size in the seed layer. The quantitative control of branching and alignment of the nanowire array that is achieved in this study will open new paths toward engineering more efficient electrodes to increase photocurrent in nanostructured PVs. This control is also applicable to inorganic nanowire growth in general, nanomechanical generators, nanowire transistors, and surface-energy engineering. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:51:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/99748 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:51:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/997482022-10-02T04:36:59Z Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron-beam lithography templating for photovoltaic applications Kiani, Amirreza Nicaise, Sam Cheng, Jian Wei Jayce Gradecak, Silvija Berggren, Karl K. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Nicaise, Sam Cheng, Jian Wei Jayce Kiani, Amirreza Gradecak, Silvija Berggren, Karl K. Hydrothermally synthesized zinc oxide nanowire arrays have been used as nanostructured acceptors in emerging photovoltaic (PV) devices. The nanoscale dimensions of such arrays allow for enhanced charge extraction from PV active layers, but the device performance critically depends on the nanowire array pitch and alignment. In this study, we templated hydrothermally-grown ZnO nanowire arrays via high-resolution electron-beam-lithography defined masks, achieving the dual requirements of high-resolution patterning at a pitch of several hundred nanometers, while maintaining hole sizes small enough to control nanowire array morphology. We investigated several process conditions, including the effect of annealing sputtered and spincoated ZnO seed layers on nanowire growth, to optimize array property metrics—branching from individual template holes and off-normal alignment. We found that decreasing template hole size decreased branching prevalence but also reduced alignment. Annealing seed layers typically improved alignment, and sputtered seed layers yielded nanowire arrays superior to spincoated seed layers. We show that these effects arose from variation in the size of the template holes relative to the ZnO grain size in the seed layer. The quantitative control of branching and alignment of the nanowire array that is achieved in this study will open new paths toward engineering more efficient electrodes to increase photocurrent in nanostructured PVs. This control is also applicable to inorganic nanowire growth in general, nanomechanical generators, nanowire transistors, and surface-energy engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Energy Initiative Grant) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Scalable Nanomanufacturing 12-544) National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship Singapore. Agency for Science, Technology and Research 2015-11-09T14:12:23Z 2015-11-09T14:12:23Z 2015-02 2014-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0957-4484 1361-6528 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99748 Nicaise, Samuel M, Jayce J Cheng, Amirreza Kiani, Silvija Gradecak, and Karl K Berggren. “Control of Zinc Oxide Nanowire Array Properties with Electron-Beam Lithography Templating for Photovoltaic Applications.” Nanotechnology 26, no. 7 (February 2, 2015): 075303. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3329-9099 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8893-2421 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7453-9031 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/26/7/075303 Nanotechnology Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf IOP Publishing MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Kiani, Amirreza Nicaise, Sam Cheng, Jian Wei Jayce Gradecak, Silvija Berggren, Karl K. Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title | Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title_full | Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title_fullStr | Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title_short | Control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for PV applications |
| title_sort | control of zinc oxide nanowire array properties with electron beam lithography templating for pv applications |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99748 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3329-9099 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8893-2421 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7453-9031 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kianiamirreza controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforpvapplications AT nicaisesam controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforpvapplications AT chengjianweijayce controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforpvapplications AT gradecaksilvija controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforpvapplications AT berggrenkarlk controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforpvapplications AT kianiamirreza controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforphotovoltaicapplications AT nicaisesam controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforphotovoltaicapplications AT chengjianweijayce controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforphotovoltaicapplications AT gradecaksilvija controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforphotovoltaicapplications AT berggrenkarlk controlofzincoxidenanowirearraypropertieswithelectronbeamlithographytemplatingforphotovoltaicapplications |