Organic Solar Cells Fabrication and Characterization

Active Layer Electron donor + Electron acceptor

Schematic illustration of a polymeric material based organic solar cell, with the structure of PEDOT:PSS, electron donor and electron acceptor.

Simplified four basic steps of photocurrent generation in organic solar cells. Excitons are assumed to be primarily generated in the donor material.

Two quantities that are important in measuring the efficiency of a device are the shortcircuit current density, JSC, and the open circuit voltage, VOC. JSC is the photocurrent produced at 0 V under illumination and is dependent upon many factors including light intensity, wavelength and material absorption. VOC is the voltage across the device when no current flows. It is highly dependent upon contact materials with their respective work functions and also the material(s) used for the active layer(s) within the cell The device power conversion efficiency, , is defined as

where FF is the fill factor and Plight is the incident light power. The fill factor is defined as

where Vmax is the voltage at maximum power, and Jmax is the current density at maximum power. The fill factor gives a good indication of the performance of the device. Good rectification will provide a high fill factor. Ideally it should be close to unity. J max and Vmax are shown in Figure 3. gives us how well a cell performs overall but it is also desirable to know how efficient cells are at individual wavelengths so that materials can be optimized for light absorption. This is achieved by measuring the Incident Photon to Conducted Electron (IPCE). The IPCE is defined as

This produces a monochromatic efficiency for the device. This information can then be used in conjunction absorption spectra to optimize device and/or material performance.

Typical current-voltage characteristics of a donor/acceptor organic solar cell.

MBRAUN Glove Box Systems integrated with spin coater, solar simulator, UV curing, balance, hot plate-stirrer, metal vapor deposition.

Newport QE/IPCE Measurement Kit

Harrick Plasma Cleaner and Spin Coater