【International Papers】Gallium oxide as an electron transport, a window, an UV and a hole blocking layer for high performance perovskite solar cell: a simulation study

      Researchers from the Laboratory of Semiconducting and Metallic Materials (LMSM), University of Mohamed Khider have published a dissertation titled " Gallium oxide as an electron transport, a window, an UV and a hole blocking layer for high performance perovskite solar cell: a simulation study " in Optical and Quantum Electronics.

Abstract

      Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) show a great promise for high-efficiency and cost-effective photovoltaic devices. This study focuses on the use of beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga₂O₃) as a versatile component in PSCs. β-Ga₂O₃ serves as the electron transport layer (ETL), a window material that reduces reflection of visible light, a UV absorption layer for perovskite stability, and a hole blocking layer (HBL) due to its high valence band-offset. Additionally, a bilayer of cuprous oxide/silicon (Cu₂O/p-Si) is employed as the hole transport and electron blocking layer (HTL and EBL), while methylammonium lead iodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃) serves as the perovskite absorber. Numerical simulations using SILVACO-TCAD demonstrate that replacing ZnO with β-Ga₂O₃ as the ETL leads to a significant enhancement in PSC performance. The optimized device exhibits a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.02%, an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.95 V, a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 31.12 mA/cm², and a fill factor (FF) of 77.53%. The study highlights the benefits of using β-Ga₂O₃ and Cu₂O/p-Si in PSCs, emphasizing their crucial role in improving device performance. Our findings will help perovskite solar cells designers to eliminate one of the causes of stability which is UV radiations by absorption utilizing a β-Ga₂O₃ layer at the front and which acts as an ETL and a window as well, hence contributing to material and cost reduction. The Cu₂O/p-Si used as an HTL the PSC achieve a PCE close to the Shockley–Queisser limit which is 26.6%.

Paper Link：https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-023-05780-y