High-Performance Inverted Polymer Solar Cells: Study and Analysis of Different Cathode Buffer Layers

Gonzalo Lastra, Victor S. Balderrama, Luis Reséndiz, Josep Pallarès, Salvador I. Garduño, Victor Cabrera, Lluis F. Marsal, Magali Estrada

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of different cathode buffer layers on the performance of inverted organic solar cells (OSCs) fabric-ated with {poly[[2,6'-4,8-di(5-ethylhexylthienyl)benzo[1,2-b;3,3-b]dithiophene][3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl) carbonyl] thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl]] (PTB7-Th):[6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl} (PC70BM) as active blend layer is studied using device simulator Silvaco/ATLAS TCAD. The parameters used in the simulations were extracted in fabricated OSCs, using the metal-insulator-metal model, obtaining very good agreement between measured and simulated current density (JSC), open-circuit voltage (VOC), fill factor, and power conversion efficiency (PCE). The enhanced performance observed for devices where either 10 nm of poly[(9,9-bis(3-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFN), 0.6 nm of lithium fluoride (LiF) layer, or the combination of these two materials, was very well reproduced by simulation. Results indicate that the described procedure can be used to predict the behavior of new buffer layers in OSCs. The PCEs values obtained by simulation were 10.90%, 10.45%, 10.38%, 9.03%, and 7.60% for OSCs with cathode buffer layer consisting of the stack PFN/LiF, PFN, LiF/PFN, LiF and without cathode buffer layer, respectively, which agree well with measured values.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)505-511
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Cathode buffer layers
  • PTB7-Th:PC70BM blend
  • numerical simulation
  • solar cells

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'High-Performance Inverted Polymer Solar Cells: Study and Analysis of Different Cathode Buffer Layers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this