Laser processing of nanocrystalline TiO_(2) films for dye-sensitized solar cells

摘要

Pulsed-laser deposition and laser direct-write have been applied to deposit dense (30 nm thick) and porous nanocrystalline TiO_(2) (nc-TiO_(2), 5-20 μm thick) layers incorporated in dye-sensitized solar cells. Laser direct-write is a laser-induced forward transfer technique that enables the fabrication of conformal structures containing metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites on rigid and flexible substrates without the use of masks or additional patterning steps. A pulsed UV laser (355 nm) was used to forward transfer a suspension of TiO_(2) (P25) nanopowder onto a F-doped SnO_(2) coated glass substrate. In this letter we demonstrate the use of laser transfer techniques to produce porous nc-TiO_(2) films required for dye-sensitized solar cells. The dye solar cells fabricated with the laser processed TiO_(2) layers on glass showed a power conversion efficiency of ～4.3% under an illumination of 10 mW/cm~(2).