Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers

The aim of this article is to investigate the origin of the open circuit voltage (Voc) in organic heterojunction solar cells. The studied devices consist of buckminsterfullerene C60 as acceptor material and an oligophenyl-derivative 4, 4′ -bis-(N,N -diphenylamino)quaterphenyl (4P-TPD) as donor mater...

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Main Authors: Uhrich, C, Wynands, D, Olthof, S, Riede, M, Leo, K, Sonntag, S, Maennig, B, Pfeiffer, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: American Institute of Physics 2008
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author Uhrich, C
Wynands, D
Olthof, S
Riede, M
Leo, K
Sonntag, S
Maennig, B
Pfeiffer, M
author_facet Uhrich, C
Wynands, D
Olthof, S
Riede, M
Leo, K
Sonntag, S
Maennig, B
Pfeiffer, M
author_sort Uhrich, C
collection OXFORD
description The aim of this article is to investigate the origin of the open circuit voltage (Voc) in organic heterojunction solar cells. The studied devices consist of buckminsterfullerene C60 as acceptor material and an oligophenyl-derivative 4, 4′ -bis-(N,N -diphenylamino)quaterphenyl (4P-TPD) as donor material. These photoactive materials are sandwiched between indium tin oxide and p -doped hole transport layers. Using two different p -doped hole transport layers, the built-in voltage of the solar cells is independently changed from the metal contacts. The influence of the built-in voltage on the Voc is investigated in bulk and planar heterojunctions. In bulk heterojunctions, in which doped transport layers border directly on the photoactive blend layer, Voc cannot exceed the built-in voltage significantly. Though, in planar heterojunctions, Voc is identical with the splitting of quasi-Fermi levels at the donor-acceptor interface and is thus primarily determined by the difference of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of C60 and the highest occupied molecular orbital of 4P-TPD. In planar heterojunctions, the open circuit voltage can exceed the built-in voltage. Furthermore, the investigations show that the efficiency of organic solar cells can be improved by using p -doped charge transport layers with optimized energy level alignment to the active materials. The optimized planar heterojunction shows a fill factor of up to 65.5% and a Voc of 0.95 V. For solar cells with insufficient energy level alignment between the photoactive layer system and the hole transport layer, a reduced Voc in bulk heterojunction cells and a characteristic S shape of the I-V characteristics in planar heterojunction cells are observed. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.
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spelling oxford-uuid:dde72525-d19c-402d-b9ce-e6db489b793e2022-03-27T09:28:18ZOrigin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layersJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:dde72525-d19c-402d-b9ce-e6db489b793eEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordAmerican Institute of Physics2008Uhrich, CWynands, DOlthof, SRiede, MLeo, KSonntag, SMaennig, BPfeiffer, MThe aim of this article is to investigate the origin of the open circuit voltage (Voc) in organic heterojunction solar cells. The studied devices consist of buckminsterfullerene C60 as acceptor material and an oligophenyl-derivative 4, 4′ -bis-(N,N -diphenylamino)quaterphenyl (4P-TPD) as donor material. These photoactive materials are sandwiched between indium tin oxide and p -doped hole transport layers. Using two different p -doped hole transport layers, the built-in voltage of the solar cells is independently changed from the metal contacts. The influence of the built-in voltage on the Voc is investigated in bulk and planar heterojunctions. In bulk heterojunctions, in which doped transport layers border directly on the photoactive blend layer, Voc cannot exceed the built-in voltage significantly. Though, in planar heterojunctions, Voc is identical with the splitting of quasi-Fermi levels at the donor-acceptor interface and is thus primarily determined by the difference of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of C60 and the highest occupied molecular orbital of 4P-TPD. In planar heterojunctions, the open circuit voltage can exceed the built-in voltage. Furthermore, the investigations show that the efficiency of organic solar cells can be improved by using p -doped charge transport layers with optimized energy level alignment to the active materials. The optimized planar heterojunction shows a fill factor of up to 65.5% and a Voc of 0.95 V. For solar cells with insufficient energy level alignment between the photoactive layer system and the hole transport layer, a reduced Voc in bulk heterojunction cells and a characteristic S shape of the I-V characteristics in planar heterojunction cells are observed. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.
spellingShingle Uhrich, C
Wynands, D
Olthof, S
Riede, M
Leo, K
Sonntag, S
Maennig, B
Pfeiffer, M
Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title_full Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title_fullStr Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title_full_unstemmed Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title_short Origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin-film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
title_sort origin of open circuit voltage in planar and bulk heterojunction organic thin film photovoltaics depending on doped transport layers
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