The Impact of Phenanthroimidazole-Imine Dye on Photovoltaic Performance of Semiconductor/Insulator/Semiconductor (SIS)-Type Solar Cells

Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze the photovoltaic (PV) parameters of TiO 2 /CN-i/SiO 2 / p -Si and TiO 2 /SiO 2 / p -Si semiconductor/insulator/semiconductor (SIS) solar cells (SCs). The organic semiconductor selected was the phenanthroimidazole-imine derivative (CN-i). The TiO 2 thin film showed the anatase phase, with (101) and (004) characteristic reflections in x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The optical bandgaps of TiO 2 and CN-i thin films are calculated as 3.38 eV and 2. 76 eV from UV–Vis spectra. To characterize the PV properties, the samples are irradiated through the transparent TiO 2 /CN-i double layers, and the parameters are obtained from J–V (current density–voltage) measurements in dark and under different illumination intensities; 10 mW/cm 2 , 15 mW/cm 2 , 25 mW/cm 2 , 50 mW/cm 2 , 100 mW/cm 2 . The current density increased considerably, ensuring a good PV conversion. Fill factor (FF) also increased from 55.12% to 69.10 % after inserting the CN-i dye under 100 mW/cm 2 illumination. Also, the ionization energy level, electron affinity, and photoconductivity values are obtained by photoemission yield spectroscopy and photoconductivity measurements. Transient photocurrent plots are analyzed and the device illuminated at 100 mW/cm 2 demonstrates an outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.24% with supported incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) data and transient photocurrent traces in the same conditions.