Atmospheric growth of hybrid ZnO thin films for inverted polymer solar cells

Thin oxide materials are increasingly gaining popularity as both active and passive components for flexible and transparent electronic devices. Synthesis methods play crucial role for optimal electronic and optoelectronic properties. Conventional thin film growth methods primarily employ high energy-consumption processes such as ultra-high vacuum and high-temperature operations. Low energy-consumption synthesis processes became critically important for large scale applications. Here we show a novel approach to synthesize hybrid ZnO thin film using a combination of mist chemical vapor deposition and sol-gel techniques under atmospheric pressure conditions. The resulting hybrid ZnO thin films exhibit significant improvements in inverted polymer solar cell (IPSC). The performance improvements include carrier concentrations up to 1.5×10¹⁶ cm⁻³, carrier lifetimes of 4×10⁻⁶ sec, and mobility up to 0.032 cm²/Vs in hybrid ZnO based IPSC devices. A 36% increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE from 3.1% to 4.23%) was observed utilizing the hybrid ZnO layer compared to their non-hybrid counterparts. These results highlight a simple and inexpensive alternative to produce hybrid ZnO layer with mass production compatibility for highly improved polymer solar cell applications.