Room Temperature Processed Amorphous Sn-Excess-ITO Electrodes for High Performance Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Optoelectronics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• High-efficiency perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) require transparent electrodes with low sheet resistance, high transmittance, and smooth morphology.
• Conventional crystalline indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes need high-temperature processing, limiting their use in flexible and low-temperature device architectures due to grain boundaries and surface roughness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop room-temperature processed transparent electrodes for high-efficiency PeLEDs.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional ITO electrodes for flexible and low-temperature device fabrication.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of amorphous Sn excess doped indium tin oxide (SE-ITO) electrodes using RF-RF co-sputtering of In2O3 and SnO2 at room temperature.
• Optimization of Sn4+ dopant concentration (19 wt.%) and oxygen vacancy engineering.
• Characterization of SE-ITO electrode properties (sheet resistance, optical transmittance) and performance in green PeLEDs.

Main Results:

• Amorphous SE-ITO electrodes achieved a low sheet resistance of 10 Ω sq⁻¹ and high visible transmittance of 85% at room temperature.
• PeLEDs utilizing SE-ITO anodes demonstrated a peak external quantum efficiency of 17.5% and maximum luminance of 1860 cd m⁻², outperforming devices with commercial crystalline ITO.
• The SE-ITO films exhibited an atomically smooth morphology, free of grain boundaries.

Conclusions:

• Fully amorphous, room-temperature processed SE-ITO electrodes are a viable alternative to crystalline ITO for PeLED applications.
• The developed SE-ITO electrodes enable high-efficiency, flexible, and thermally compatible PeLED technologies.
• This work presents a new pathway for advancing PeLED performance and manufacturing.