Abstract
Transparent electrodes and metal contacts deposited by magnetron sputtering find applications in numerous state-of-the-art optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. However, the deposition of such thin films may damage underlying sensitive device layers due to plasma emission and particle impact. Inserting a buffer layer to shield against such damage is a common mitigation approach. We start this review by describing how sputtered transparent top electrodes have become archetypal for a broad range of optoelectronic devices and then discuss the possible detrimental consequences of sputter damage on device performance. Next, we review common buffer-layer materials in view of their processingproperty-performance relationship. Finally, we discuss strategies to eliminate the buffer-layer requirement by implementing alternative, soft-landing deposition techniques for top electrodes. Our review highlights the critical issue of sputter damage for optoelectronic devices, formulates mitigation strategies, and provides cross-field learnings that can lead to more efficient and reliable optoelectronic devices aimed for commercialization.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 3549-3584 |
Number of pages | 36 |
Journal | Matter |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 3 2021 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-11Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): OSR-2019-CARF/CCF-3097, OSR-2019-CRG-4093
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award numbers OSR-2019-CARF/CCF-3097 and OSR-2019-CRG-4093, from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (MICIU, MAT2017-88821-R, CEX2019-000919-M), and the Comunitat Valenciana (IDIFEDER/2018/061 and PROMETEU/2020/077). A.P. acknowledges his Grisolia grant from the Comunitat Valenciana GRISOLIAP/2020/134. Y.S. and M.M.-M. acknowledge support from the Solar Era Net CUSTCO project (project number SOL18001). Figures 1 and 2 were created by Heno Hwang, scientific illustrator at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).