Understanding the open circuit voltage in organic solar cells on the basis of a donor-acceptor abrupt (p-n++) heterojunction

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • J. C. Nolasco - , University of Oldenburg, Universidad Veracruzana (Author)
  • A. Castro-Carranza - , University of Bremen, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Author)
  • Y. A. León - , Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Author)
  • C. Briones-Jurado - , Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (Author)
  • J. Gutowski - , University of Bremen (Author)
  • J. Parisi - , University of Oldenburg (Author)
  • E. von Hauff - , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) (Author)

Abstract

By using electrical characterization and classical solid state semiconductor device theory, we demonstrate that the open circuit voltage (Voc) in organic solar cells based on non-intentional doped semiconductors is fundamentally limited by the built-in potential (Vbi) originated at a donor-acceptor abrupt (p-n++) heterojunction in case of selective contacts. Our analysis is validated using P3HT:PCBM devices fabricated in our research group. We also demonstrate that such a result can be generalized using data already reported in literature for fullerene-based solar cells. Finally, we show that the dependence of Voc on the device contacts can be understood in terms of the potential barriers formed by the Fermi level alignment of semiconductors at the heterojunction and at the Schottky junctions.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)610-619
Number of pages10
JournalSolar Energy
Volume184
Publication statusPublished - 15 May 2019
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Band bending, Open circuit voltage, Organic heterojunction