caa a22 4500 52878577X 20190713030955.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180924s2015 xx s 000 0 eng 10.3929/ethz-b-000098798 doi 10.1038/ncomms7180 doi (ETHRESEARCH)oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/98798 A quantitative model for charge carrier transport, trapping and recombination in nanocrystal-based solar cells [Elektronische Daten] [Deniz Bozyigit, Weyde; id_orcid 0000-0002-7572-499X Lin, Nuri; id_orcid 0000-0001-6593-7601 Yazdani, Olesya; id_orcid 0000-0002-1653-1338 Yarema, Vanessa; id_orcid 0000-0001-6435-0227 Wood] Nat Commun Open access ethresearch Improving devices incorporating solution-processed nanocrystal-based semiconductors requires a better understanding of charge transport in these complex, inorganic-organic materials. Here we perform a systematic study on PbS nanocrystal-based diodes using temperature-dependent current-voltage characterization and thermal admittance spectroscopy to develop a model for charge transport that is applicable to different nanocrystal-solids and device architectures. Our analysis confirms that charge transport occurs in states that derive from the quantum-confined electronic levels of the individual nanocrystals and is governed by diffusion-controlled trap-assisted recombination. The current is limited not by the Schottky effect, but by Fermi-level pinning because of trap states that is independent of the electrode-nanocrystal interface. Our model successfully explains the non-trivial trends in charge transport as a function of nanocrystal size and the origins of the trade-offs facing the optimization of nanocrystal-based solar cells. We use the insights from our charge transport model to formulate design guidelines for engineering higher-performance nanocrystal-based devices. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 ethresearch Bozyigit Deniz joint author Lin Weyde; id_orcid 0000-0002-7572-499X joint author Yazdani Nuri; id_orcid 0000-0001-6593-7601 joint author Yarema Olesya; id_orcid 0000-0002-1653-1338 joint author Wood Vanessa; id_orcid 0000-0001-6435-0227 joint author Nature Communications London : Nature Publishing Group 6, p. 6180 2041-1723 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/98798 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) 1 Journal Article ethresearch ETHRESEARCH 856 40 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/98798 text/html WWW-Backlink auf das Repository (Open access) ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Bozyigit Deniz joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Lin Weyde; id_orcid 0000-0002-7572-499X joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Yazdani Nuri; id_orcid 0000-0001-6593-7601 joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Yarema Olesya; id_orcid 0000-0002-1653-1338 joint author ETHRESEARCH 700 1- Wood Vanessa; id_orcid 0000-0001-6435-0227 joint author ETHRESEARCH 773 0- Nature Communications London : Nature Publishing Group 6, p. 6180 2041-1723 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH ETHRESEARCH Journal Article Open access