Direct laser patterning of transparent ITO-Ag-ITO multilayer anodes for organic solar cells

Direct laser patterning of transparent ITO-Ag-ITO (IAI) multilayer anodes is investigated using a femtosecond fiber laser for application in organic solar cells (OSC) fabrication. By adjusting laser fluence and scan speed, we successfully patterned the IAI multilayer anode without changing the electrical or optical properties. At an optimized laser fluence of 0.6 J/cm(2) and a scan speed of 200 mm/s, the patterned IAI multilayer was electrically isolated with a clean edge. The metallic Ag interlayer of the IAI multilayer plays an important role in direct laser patterning because it absorbed the laser and increases the maximum temperature in the IAI multilayer. In addition, the Ag layer could effectively decrease the temperature of the IAI multilayer after irradiation of laser. The OSC fabricated on the laser patterned IAI multilayer showed power conversion efficiencies of 3.12% (Ag 8 nm) and 2.85% (Ag 12 nm). Successful operation of the OSC indicates that direct laser patterning of IAI multilayer anodes is a promising, simple patterning technology for fabrication of IAI-based OSCs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.