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Understanding the Light‐Intensity Dependence of the Short‐Circuit Current of Organic Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Hartnagel Paula,
Kirchartz Thomas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.068
H-Index - 17
ISSN - 2513-0390
DOI - 10.1002/adts.202000116
Subject(s) - recombination , light intensity , intensity (physics) , space charge , organic solar cell , short circuit , limiting , computational physics , optoelectronics , solar cell , current density , materials science , physics , optics , chemistry , voltage , electron , polymer , composite material , engineering , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , gene
In organic solar cells, bimolecular recombination is a key factor limiting the device performance and creating the need for characterization. Light‐intensity‐dependent short‐circuit current density measurements are a frequently used tool to qualitatively analyze bimolecular recombination in a device. When applying a 0D model, bimolecular recombination is expected to reduce the otherwise linear correlation of the short‐circuit current density J sc and the light intensity Φ to a sublinear trend. It is shown by numerical simulations that the slope of the J sc –Φ curve is affected by the recombination mechanism (direct or via traps), the spatial distribution of charge carriers and—in thick solar cells—by space charge effects. Only the combination of these effects allows proper explanation of the different cases, some of which cannot be explained in a simple 0D device model.