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Photo‐Carrier Recombination in Polymer Solar Cells Based on P3HT and Silole‐Based Copolymer
Author(s) -
Chen Song,
Choudhury Kaushik Roy,
Subbiah Jegadesan,
Amb Chad M.,
Reynolds John R.,
So Franky
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201100300
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer solar cell , recombination , fullerene , polymer , acceptor , open circuit voltage , optoelectronics , charge carrier , carrier lifetime , electron mobility , heterojunction , solar cell , voltage , condensed matter physics , silicon , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , gene
Photo‐current loss in donor‐acceptor (DA) polymer‐fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells was studied via carrier transport and recombination measurements. Focusing on the DA polymer poly((4,4‐dioctyldithieno (3,2‐b:2',3'‐d) silole)‐2,6‐diyl‐alt‐(2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole)‐4,7‐diyl) (DTS‐BTD) we found that the carrier transport is well‐balanced and attribute the loss mechanism in DTS‐BTD solar cells to carrier recombination. Using carrier extraction with linear increasing voltage (photo‐CELIV) and transient photo‐voltage (TPV), we show that carrier recombination plays an important role in photo‐current extraction at open circuit conditions due to increase in photo‐excited carrier concentration. Delay time dependent photo‐CELIV and temperature dependent transport studies suggest that the recombination rate is related to the degree of energetic disorder in the polymer: fullerene blends.