Antimony Doped Tin Oxide Layer Research Articles

Cerium‐Modified Mesoporous Antimony Doped Tin Oxide as Intercalation‐Free Charge Storage Layers for Electrochromic Devices

AbstractCharge storage layers are an important component of electrochromic devices, which are expected to exhibit high storage capacity and transparency as well as fast electron transfer rates. However, these layers often rely on the (de)intercalation of ions into the crystal lattice of the material and therefore require optimization to be compatible with non‐intercalating electrolytes. In this report, the post‐modification of mesoporous antimony‐doped tin oxide (ATO) nanoparticle layers with a redox‐active cerium compound is described. In particular, the switching of the Ce3+/Ce4+ couple on the conductive nanoparticle scaffold is demonstrated using tetrabutylammonium perchlorate as a non‐intercalating electrolyte. Remarkably, high storage capacities of up to 27 mC cm−2 and transmittance values of ≈90% are achieved. Variation of the antimony doping concentration revealed that nanoparticle layers doped with 15% Sb exhibit the highest capacity, which can be attributed to increased conductivity in the potential range where the Ce3+ ions are oxidized. Finally, the cerium‐modified ATO films show promising performance as charge storage layers in an electrochromic device with a viologen‐anchored ATO layer as the electrochromic working electrode. Switching times of ≈0.4 s highlight the fast electron transfer capability of the cerium‐decorated ATO layer, even when a non‐intercalating electrolyte is used.

UV- and NIR-blocking properties of ZnO/ATO bilayer films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering

Films with ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) blocking properties can be used to protect against UV and heat radiation, thus prolonging the operating life of photovoltaic devices. Being wide band-gap semiconductors, ZnO films can absorb UV light and antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) films can play the role of defending against the NIR light with low electrical resistivities. In this work, the bilayer films of ZnO overlayed by ATO are sputtered by radio-frequent (r.f.) magnetron sputtering, and the growth rules of ATO on ZnO film are studied comprehensively by adjusting parameters including the sputtering power, pressure, gas flow rate ratio of O 2 /Ar and sputtering time. Eventually, a bilayer film with 200 nm thick ZnO layer and 400 nm thick ATO layer is fabricated and shows about 96% UV-blocking (from 280 nm to 380 nm), about 66% NIR-blocking (from 1100 nm to 2500 nm) while maintains about 80% light transmittance (from 380 nm to 1100 nm) after annealing in the nitrogen atmosphere at 500 °C for 1 h. This transparent bilayer film with UV and NIR double blocking functions can be potentially used in organic solar cells. • ZnO/ATO bilayers with UV and near IR double blocking functions were produced. • The bilayers of ZnO overlayed by ATO were deposited by r.f. magnetron sputtering. • 96% UV-blocking (280–380 nm) was got from ZnO (200 nm)/ATO (400 nm) bilayer. • 66% NIR-blocking (1100–2500 nm) and 80% transmission (380–1100 nm) were also gained.

Antimony doped tin oxide/polyethylenimine electron selective contact for reliable and light soaking-free high performance inverted organic solar cells

We have demonstrated a high-performance low temperature solution processed electron selective contact consisting of 10 at. % antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) and the neutral polymer polyethylenimine (PEI). Inverted organic photovoltaics (OPVs) utilizing ATO/PEI as electron selective contact exhibited high power conversion efficiencies for both the reference P3HT:PCBM and the nonfullerene based P3HT:IDTBR active layer OPV material systems. Importantly, it is shown that the proposed ATO/PEI carrier selective contact provides light soaking-free inverted OPVs. Furthermore, by increasing the thickness of the ATO layer from 40 to 120 nm, the power conversion efficiency of the corresponding inverted OPVs remain unaffected, a parameter which indicates the potential of the proposed ATO/PEI carrier selective contact for high performance light-soaking-free and reliable roll-to-roll printing solutions processed inverted OPVs.

Development of an Antimony Doped Tin Oxide/TiO2 Double-Layers Coated HGM: A High Reflectivity and Low Transmittance Building Thermal Conservation Material

A novel antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) and TiO2 double-layers coated HGM was developed in this project. The ATO, which has excellent IR-insulation property, was coated on the HGM as the first layer and the TiO2, which has high reflectivity, was the outmost layer. Therefore, when the modified HGM is coated on the outside of the building walls, the incident light is firstly reflected by the TiO2 layer then insulated by the ATO layer. Most of the radiative thermal transfer was blocked by this double-layers coating. The building envelope can be thus protected by the HGM for less heat gains. Compared with original HGMs, the reflectivity increased by 19.6% and the transmittance decreased by 85.7%. In addition, this coating barely changed the thermal conductivity, which only increased by about 8%. By this method, most of the thermal conduction and radiative thermal transfer are blocked. The energy consumption and carbon emission of a building can be reduced.

Nanocrystalline antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) thin films: A thermal restructuring study

Antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) is a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) with promising applications for solar energy utilization and for energy savings. In addition it has been shown how a thin ATO layer deposited on top of other TCOs could act as a protective coating against high temperature processes due to its good thermal stability.ATO has been widely studied previously; however the role played by oxygen vacancies together with antimony doping, their structural arrangement and annealing restructuring processes remains unclear.In the present work ATO thin films are deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature from a metallic target onto soda-lime glass substrates. As deposited samples present amorphous or nanocrystalline structures, as well as different electrical and optical properties depending on their deposition parameters. Then, a post-deposition annealing is performed from 250°C to 450°C in air or nitrogen atmosphere in order to study not only the evolution of the electrical, optical and structural properties but also the conduction mechanism.

AZO/ATO double-layered transparent conducting electrode: A thermal stability study

During the fabrication of a thin film photovoltaic device the transparent conducting oxide (TCO), which constitutes an integral part of its basic structure, could be exposed at high temperature processes; in addition, a TCO which could be grown at ambient temperature can be useful in order to minimize possible damages caused to other previously deposited components. Aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) is a well known TCO with good properties in terms of light transparency and conductivity, however its electrical properties deteriorate after subsequent high temperature processes in air atmosphere. On the other hand antimony doped tin oxide (ATO) has poorer conductivity than AZO but has good light transparency and better thermal stability. In the present work, ATO layers with a thickness ranging from 30 nm to 210 nm were deposited over a 600 nm thick AZO layer. These AZO/ATO bilayers, which have been developed at ambient temperature by DC magnetron sputtering, were subsequently annealed at high temperatures in order to study their thermal stability. An ATO optimal thickness of 130 nm is found to improve the bilayer thermal stability at temperatures over 350 °C in air atmosphere, keeping good optical properties.

ITO/ATO/TiO 2 triple-layered transparent conducting substrates for dye-sensitized solar cells

A novel transparent conductive oxide film based on the triple-layered indium tin oxide (ITO)/antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO)/titanium oxide (TiO 2) has been developed for dye-sensitized solar cells by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Effects of the absence and presence of TiO 2 layer and the ITO layer thickness were investigated. Deposition of ATO layer was found to stabilize the thermal instability of ITO. Little change in sheet resistance and optical transmittance was observed by introduction of insulating thin TiO 2 layer on top of the ATO layer, whereas photovoltaic performance was significantly influenced. The conversion efficiency was improved from 4.57% without TiO 2 layer to 6.29% with TiO 2 layer. The enhanced photovoltaic performance with addition of TiO 2 layer was attributed mainly to the improved adhesion and partially to the reduced electron loss at the ITO/ATO conductive layer. Increase in the ITO layer thickness resulted in a slight decrease in photocurrent due to the reduced optical transmittance. When compared with the conventional fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), the ITO/ATO/TiO 2 conductive material exhibited similar photocurrent density but higher photovoltage and fill factor, resulting in better conversion efficiency.

The electrical and optical properties of thin layers of nano-sized antimony doped tinoxide particles

For the use in anti-static films on glass or polymeric substrates, transparent conductive layers can be prepared by spinning an aqueous suspension of nano-sized antimony-doped tinoxide (ATO) particles. These layers have a resistivity which is substantially higher than that of homogeneous ATO layers which are deposited by physical vapour deposition techniques. By curing the films to temperatures up to 700 °C, the resistivity of the particle layer can be decreased by two or three decades. Because the nano-sized particles are prepared by a low-temperature process a different mechanism can contribute to this decrease in resistivity. Possible effects which may influence the conductivity are sintering of the particles, change of the bulk material and the presence of an insulating layer at the outside of the particles. This decrease can be explained by the presence of an insulating antimony-rich layer on the outside of the particles, the thickness of which is reduced when the layer is cured. At temperatures above 350 °C, sintering of the particles also highly influences the decrease in resistivity. At temperatures above 700 °C, the resistivity is increased due to segregation of the antimony to the surface of the particle.