Molecular doping of low-bandgap-polymer:fullerene solar cells: Effects on transport and solar cells

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Ali Veysel Tunc - , University of Oldenburg (Author)
  • Antonietta De Sio - , University of Oldenburg (Author)
  • Daniel Riedel - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Felix Deschler - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Enrico Da Como - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Jürgen Parisi - , University of Oldenburg (Author)
  • Elizabeth Von Hauff - , Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chair of Coating Technologies in Electronics (with Fraunhofer), Energy and Semiconductor Research Laboratory, University of Oldenburg, University of Freiburg (Author)

Abstract

We show how molecular doping can be implemented to improve the performance of solution processed bulk heterojunction solar cells based on a low-bandgap polymer mixed with a fullerene derivative. The molecular dopant 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) is introduced into blends of poly[2,6(4,4-bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b:3,4-b0]- dithiophene)-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) via co-solution in a range of concentrations from 0% to 1%. We demonstrate that the hole conductivity and mobility increase with doping concentration using field-effect measurements. Photoinduced absorption (PIA) spectroscopy reveals that the polaron density in the blends increases with doping. We show that the open circuit voltage and short circuit current of the corresponding solar cells can be improved by doping at 0.5%, resulting in improved power conversion efficiencies. The increase in performance is discussed in terms of trap filling due to the increased carrier density, and reduced recombination correlated to the improvement in mobility.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)290-296
Number of pages7
JournalOrganic electronics
Volume13
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2012
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-6269-0540/work/172082592

Keywords

Keywords

  • Carrier mobility, Conducting polymer, Doping, Organic semiconductors, Photovoltaics, Solar cells