Premium
A Simple Approach for Unraveling Optoelectronic Processes in Organic Solar Cells under Short‐Circuit Conditions
Author(s) -
Schopp Nora,
Brus Viktor V.,
Lee Jaewon,
Bazan Guillermo C.,
Nguyen ThucQuyen
Publication year - 2021
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.202002760
Subject(s) - materials science , organic solar cell , optoelectronics , active layer , photovoltaic system , work (physics) , exciton , quantum efficiency , solar cell , capacitance , voltage , organic semiconductor , layer (electronics) , polymer , nanotechnology , electrode , chemistry , physics , thermodynamics , condensed matter physics , composite material , ecology , quantum mechanics , biology , thin film transistor
Abstract The short‐circuit current ( J sc ) of organic solar cells is defined by the interplay of exciton photogeneration in the active layer, geminate and non‐geminate recombination losses and free charge carrier extraction. The method proposed in this work allows the quantification of geminate recombination and the determination of the mobility‐lifetime product ( µτ ) as a single integrated parameter for charge transport and non‐geminate recombination. Furthermore, the extraction efficiency is quantified based on the obtained µτ product. Only readily available experimental methods (current‐voltage characteristics, external quantum efficiency measurements) are employed, which are coupled with an optical transfer matrix method simulation. The required optical properties of common organic photovoltaic (OPV) materials are provided in this work. The new approach is applied to three OPV systems in inverted or conventional device structures, and the results are juxtaposed against the µτ values obtained by an independent method based on the voltage–capacitance spectroscopy technique. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the new method can accurately predict the optimal active layer thickness.