Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 June 2017
Two dimensional (2D) thin transition metal dichalcogenides are being widely investigated for optoelectronics applications. Here, we report on the interfacial study of WSe2 with photo-absorber materials for efficient charge transport using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) for solar cell applications. The WSe2 in these experiments was synthesized using Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) with a WO3 powder and Se pellets as the precursors, where the selenium was placed upstream in an Ar carrier gas within the furnace at a temperature zone of 260-270°C. For the interfacial analysis, nanoscale KPFM measurements show an average surface potential of 125 meV for the CVD synthesized WSe2 flakes. KPFM measurements signify that a thin layer of WSe2 can be used to suppress back recombination of carriers between the electron transport layer (ETL) and the absorber layer. A proper band alignment between ETL and absorber layer helps to increase the overall device performance, which we will elaborate upon in this work. Capacitance-voltage and capacitance-frequency measurements were measured to study the role of defects.