Measurement of nanoscale external quantum efficiency of conjugated polymer. Fullerene solar cells by photoconductive atomic force microscopy

Journal Article · Fri Sep 17 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3483613· OSTI ID:1064874

Dang, Xuan-Dung ^[1]; Mikhailovsky, Alexander ^[1]; Nguyen, Thuc-Quyen ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Photoconductive atomic force microscopy is used to investigate nanoscale incident photon-to-current efficiency spectra of polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells based on poly[2-methoxy-5-(3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)]-1,4-phenylenevinylene (MDMO-PPV) and [6,6]-phenyl-C₇₁ -butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁ BM) . Nanoscale external quantum efficiency reveals the complex morphology of MDMO-PPV:PC₇₁ BM films cast from toluene solution. Not only electron transfer from the photoexcited donor to the fullerene but also hole transfer process from photoexcited fullerene to the donor phase due to highest occupied molecular orbital offset is observed. The difference in performance between toluene and chlorobenzene-cast devices is explained by the variation in relative contributions from two charge transfer mechanisms.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001009
• OSTI ID: 1064874
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 11; Related Information: CEEM partners with the University of California, Santa Barbara (lead); Purdue University; Los Alamos National Laboratory; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; ISSN 0003-6951
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR CELLS
POLYMERS
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
solar (photovoltaic)
solid state lighting
phonons
thermoelectric
bio-inspired
energy storage (including batteries and capacitors)
electrodes - solar
defects
charge transport
materials and chemistry by design
optics
synthesis (novel materials)
synthesis (self-assembly)
synthesis (scalable processing)