High-resolution photocurrent imaging of bulk heterojunction solar cells

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

Volumn 4, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 161-169

  Mukhopadhyay, Sabyasachi ^a   Das, Anshuman J ^a   Narayan, K S ^a  

^a JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CENTRE FOR ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ASYMMETRIC ELECTRODES; BULK HETEROJUNCTION; BULK HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS; CARRIER GENERATION; DIRECT MEASURES; DONOR SYSTEMS; FOURIER; HIGH RESOLUTION; NEAR FIELD OPTICAL MICROSCOPY; NEAR-FIELD; ORGANIC BULK-HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS; PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS; PROBE TIPS; SITU SCANNING; TRANSFORMATION TECHNIQUES;

ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY; FOURIER TRANSFORMS; MORPHOLOGY; PHOTOCURRENTS; SOLAR CELLS;

HETEROJUNCTIONS;

EID: 84872194379     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19487185     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1021/jz3018336     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. Brabec, C. J.; Sariciftci, N. S.; Hummelen, J. C. Plastic Solar Cells Adv. Funct. Mater. 2001, 11, 15
2. Christoph, J. B.; Vladimir, D.; Ullrich, S. E. Organic Photovoltaics: Materials, Device Physics and Manufacturing Technologies; Wiley VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2008; Vol. 1.
3. Clarke, T. M.; Durrant, J. R. Charge Photogeneration in Organic Solar Cells Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6736
4. He, F.; Yu, L. P. How Far Can Polymer Solar Cells Go? In Need of a Synergistic Approach J Phys Chem Lett 2011, 2, 3102-3113
5. Frost, J. M.; Cheynis, F.; Tuladhar, S. M.; Nelson, J. Influence of Polymer-Blend Morphology on Charge Transport and Photocurrent Generation in Donor-Acceptor Polymer Blends Nano Lett. 2006, 6, 1674-1681
6. Hamadani, B. H.; Jung, S.; Haney, P. M.; Richter, L. J.; Zhitenev, N. B. Origin of Nanoscale Variations in Photoresponse of an Organic Solar Cell Nano Lett. 2010, 10, 1611-1617
7. van Bavel, S. S.; Sourty, E.; With, G. d.; Loos, J. Three-Dimensional Nanoscale Organization of Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 507-513
8. Yu, G.; Gao, J.; Hummelen, J. C.; Wudl, F.; Heeger, A. J. Polymer Photovoltaic Cells: Enhanced Efficiencies via a Network of Internal Donor-Acceptor Heterojunctions Science 1995, 270, 1789-1791
9. Groves, C.; Reid, O. G.; Ginger, D. S. Heterogeneity in Polymer Solar Cells: Local Morphology and Performance in Organic Photovoltaics Studied with Scanning Probe Microscopy Acc. Chem. Res. 2010, 43, 612-620
10. Collins, B. A.; Tumbleston, J. R.; Ade, H. Miscibility, Crystallinity, and Phase Development in P3HT/PCBM Solar Cells: Toward an Enlightened Understanding of Device Morphology and Stability J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2011, 2, 3135-3145
11. Vakhshouri, K.; Kozub, D. R.; Wang, C.; Salleo, A.; Gomez, E. D. Effect of Miscibility and Percolation on Electron Transport in Amorphous Poly(3-hexylthiophene)/Phenyl-C-{61}-Butyric Acid Methyl Ester Blends Phys. Rev. Lett. 2012, 108, 026601
12. Liu, F.; Gu, Y.; Jung, J. W.; Jo, W. H.; Russell, T. P. On the Morphology of Polymer-Based Photovoltaics J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2012, 50, 1018-1044
13. Beiley, Z. M.; Hoke, E. T.; Noriega, R.; Dacuña, J.; Burkhard, G. F.; Bartelt, J. A.; Salleo, A.; Toney, M. F.; McGehee, M. D. Morphology-Dependent Trap Formation in High Performance Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Adv. Energy Mater. 2011, 1, 954-962
14. Maturová, K.; van Bavel, S. S.; Wienk, M. M.; Janssen, R. A. J.; Kemerink, M. Description of the Morphology Dependent Charge Transport and Performance of Polymer:Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Adv. Funct. Mater. 2011, 21, 261-269
15. Morana, M.; Azimi, H.; Dennler, G.; Egelhaaf, H.-J.; Scharber, M.; Forberich, K.; Hauch, J.; Gaudiana, R.; Waller, D.; Zhu, Z.; Hingerl, K.; van Bavel, S. S.; Loos, J.; Brabec, C. J. Nanomorphology and Charge Generation in Bulk Heterojunctions Based on Low-Bandgap Dithiophene Polymers with Different Bridging Atoms Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010, 20, 1180-1188
16. Scharber, M. C.; Koppe, M.; Gao, J.; Cordella, F.; Loi, M. A.; Denk, P.; Morana, M.; Egelhaaf, H.-J.; Forberich, K.; Dennler, G.; Gaudiana, R.; Waller, D.; Zhu, Z.; Shi, X.; Brabec, C. J. Influence of the Bridging Atom on the Performance of a Low-Bandgap Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cell Adv. Mater. 2010, 22, 367-370
17. Li, X. H.; Choy, W. C. H.; Huo, L. J.; Xie, F. X.; Sha, W. E. I.; Ding, B. F.; Guo, X.; Li, Y. F.; Hou, J. H.; You, J. B.; Yang, Y. Dual Plasmonic Nanostructures for High Performance Inverted Organic Solar Cells Adv. Mater. 2012, 24, 3046-3052
18. Lee, J. K.; Ma, W. L.; Brabec, C. J.; Yuen, J.; Moon, J. S.; Kim, J. Y.; Lee, K.; Bazan, G. C.; Heeger, A. J. Processing Additives for Improved Efficiency from Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 3619-3623
19. Staniec, P. A.; Parnell, A. J.; Dunbar, A. D. F.; Yi, H.; Pearson, A. J.; Wang, T.; Hopkinson, P. E.; Kinane, C.; Dalgliesh, R. M.; Donald, A. M.; Ryan, A. J.; Iraqi, A.; Jones, R. A. L.; Lidzey, D. G. The Nanoscale Morphology of a PCDTBT:PCBM Photovoltaic Blend Adv. Energy Mater. 2011, 1, 499-504
20. Park, B.; Huh, Y. H.; Kim, M. Surfactant Additives for Improved Photovoltaic Effect of Polymer Solar Cells J. Mater. Chem. 2010, 20, 10862-10868
21. Gu, Y.; Wang, C.; Russell, T. P. Multi-Length-Scale Morphologies in PCPDTBT/PCBM Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells Adv. Energy Mater. 2012, 2, 683-690
22. Chu, T.-Y.; Alem, S.; Tsang, S.-W.; Tse, S.-C.; Wakim, S.; Lu, J.; Dennler, G.; Waller, D.; Gaudiana, R.; Tao, Y. Morphology Control in Polycarbazole Based Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and Its Impact on Device Performance Appl. Phys. Lett. 2011, 98, 253301-3
23. Jamieson, F. C.; Domingo, E. B.; McCarthy-Ward, T.; Heeney, M.; Stingelin, N.; Durrant, J. R. Fullerene Crystallisation As a Key Driver of Charge Separation in Polymer/Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Chem Sci 2012, 3, 485-492
24. Ruderer, M. A.; Meier, R.; Porcar, L.; Cubitt, R.; Müller-Buschbaum, P. Phase Separation and Molecular Intermixing in Polymer-Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Thin Films J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3, 683-688
25. DeLongchamp, D. M.; Kline, R. J.; Herzing, A. Nanoscale Structure Measurements for Polymer-Fullerene Photovoltaics Energy Environ. Sci. 2012, 5, 5980-5993
26. Woo, C. H.; Thompson, B. C.; Kim, B. J.; Toney, M. F.; Frechet, J. M. J. The Influence of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Regioregularity on Fullerene-Composite Solar Cell Performance J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 16324-16329
27. Ruderer, M. A.; Guo, S.; Meier, R.; Chiang, H. Y.; Korstgens, V.; Wiedersich, J.; Perlich, J.; Roth, S. V.; Muller-Buschbaum, P. Solvent-Induced Morphology in Polymer-Based Systems for Organic Photovoltaics Adv. Funct. Mater. 2011, 21, 3382-3391
28. Wu, W. R.; Jeng, U. S.; Su, C. J.; Wei, K. H.; Su, M. S.; Chiu, M. Y.; Chen, C. Y.; Su, W. B.; Su, C. H.; Su, A. C. Competition between Fullerene Aggregation and Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Crystallization upon Annealing of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells ACS Nano 2011, 5, 6233-6243
29. Chen, D. A.; Nakahara, A.; Wei, D. G.; Nordlund, D.; Russell, T. P. P3HT/PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaics: Correlating Efficiency and Morphology Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 561-567
30. Chen, W.; Xu, T.; He, F.; Wang, W.; Wang, C.; Strzalka, J.; Liu, Y.; Wen, J. G.; Miller, D. J.; Chen, J. H.; Hong, K. L.; Yu, L. P.; Darling, S. B. Hierarchical Nanomorphologies Promote Exciton Dissociation in Polymer/Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 3707-3713
31. Beal, R. M.; Stavrinadis, A.; Warner, J. H.; Smith, J. M.; Assender, H. E.; Watt, A. A. R. The Molecular Structure of Polymer-Fullerene Composite Solar Cells and Its Influence on Device Performance Macromolecules 2010, 43, 2343-2348
32. Pfannmoller, M.; Flugge, H.; Benner, G.; Wacker, I.; Sommer, C.; Hanselmann, M.; Schmale, S.; Schmidt, H.; Hamprecht, F. A.; Rabe, T.; Kowalsky, W.; Schroder, R. R. Visualizing a Homogeneous Blend in Bulk Heterojunction Polymer Solar Cells by Analytical Electron Microscopy Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 3099-3107
33. Drummy, L. F.; Davis, R. J.; Moore, D. L.; Durstock, M.; Vaia, R. A.; Hsu, J. W. P. Molecular-Scale and Nanoscale Morphology of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunctions: Energy-Filtered TEM and Low-Dose HREM Chem. Mater. 2011, 23, 907-912
34. Giridharagopal, R.; Ginger, D. S. Characterizing Morphology in Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaic Systems J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2010, 1, 1160-1169
35. Pingree, L. S. C.; Reid, O. G.; Ginger, D. S. Electrical Scanning Probe Microscopy on Active Organic Electronic Devices Adv. Mater. 2009, 21, 19-28
36. O'Dea, J. R.; Brown, L. M.; Hoepker, N.; Marohn, J. A.; Sadewasser, S. Scanning Probe Microscopy of Solar Cells: From Inorganic Thin Films to Organic Photovoltaics MRS Bull. 2012, 37, 642-650
37. Chen, W.; Nikiforov, M. P.; Darling, S. B. Morphology Characterization in Organic and Hybrid Solar Cells Energy Environ. Sci. 2012, 5, 8045-8074
38. Gupta, D.; Bag, M.; Narayan, K. S. Area Dependent Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells Appl. Phys. Lett. 2008, 93, 163301
39. Gupta, D. Studies of Polymer based Solar Cells and Performance Limiting Factors. Ph.D. Thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, 2008.
40. Kabra, D. Studies of Length Scales in Semiconducting Polymers using Scanning Photocurrent Contrast Microscopy. PhD Thesis, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, 2007.
41. Kabra, D.; Narayan, K. Direct Estimate of Transport Length Scales in Semiconducting Polymers Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 1465-1470
42. Gupta, D.; Vidhyadhiraja, N. S.; Narayan, K. S. Transport of Photogenerated Charge Carriers in Polymer Semiconductors Proc. IEEE 2009, 97, 1558-1569
43. Mukhophadyay, S.; V., R.; Vidhydhiraja, N.; Rao, C. N. R.; Narayan, K. S. Lateral Photocurrent Scanning of Donor and Acceptor Polymers on Graphene Coated Substrates Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2011, 50
44. Kabra, D.; Shriram, S.; Vidhyadhiraja, N. S.; Narayan, K. S. Charge Carrier Dynamics in Organic Semiconductors by Position Dependent Optical Probing J. Appl. Phys. 2007, 101, 064510/1-064510/7
45. Kabra, D.; Singh, T. B.; Narayan, K. S. Semiconducting-Polymer-Based Position-Sensitive Detectors Appl. Phys. Lett. 2004, 85, 5073-5075
46. McNeill, J. D.; O'Connor, D. B.; Barbara, P. F. Imaging Organic Device Function with near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy J. Chem. Phys. 2000, 112, 7811-7821
47. Barbara, P. F.; Adams, D. M.; O'Connor, D. B. Characterization of Organic Thin Film Materials with Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM) Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 1999, 29, 433-469
48. McNeill, C. R.; Dastoor, P. C. Photocurrent Pattern Formation in Polymer/Methanofullerene Blends Imaged by Near-Field Scanning Photocurrent Microscopy J. Appl. Phys. 2006, 99, 033502/1-033502/7
49. McNeill, C. R.; Frohne, H.; Holdsworth, J. L.; Furst, J. E.; King, B. V.; Dastoor, P. C. Direct Photocurrent Mapping of Organic Solar Cells Using a Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope Nano Lett. 2004, 4, 219-223
50. Kabra, D.; Verma, J.; Vidhyadhiraja, N. S.; Narayan, K. S. Model for Studies of Lateral Photovoltaic Effect in Polymeric Semiconductors IEEE Sensor J. 2008, 8, 1663
51. Dennler, G.; Scharber, M. C.; Brabec, C. J. Polymer-Fullerene Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells Adv. Mater. 2009, 21, 1323
52. Koppe, M.; Egelhaaf, H.-J.; Dennler, G.; Scharber, M. C.; Brabec, C. J.; Schilinsky, P.; Hoth, C. N. Near IR Sensitization of Organic Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: Towards Optimization of the Spectral Response of Organic Solar Cells Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010, 20, 338-346
53. Mukhopadhyay, S.; Narayan, K. S. Rationalization of Donor-Acceptor Ratio in Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells Using Lateral Photocurrent Studies Appl. Phys. Lett. 2012, 100, 163302
54. Nalwa, K. S.; Kodali, H. K.; Ganapathysubramanian, B.; Chaudhary, S. Dependence of Recombination Mechanisms and Strength on Processing Conditions in Polymer Solar Cells Appl. Phys. Lett. 2011, 99, 263301/1-263301/4
55. Morana, M.; Azimi, H.; Dennler, G.; Egelhaaf, H.-J.; Scharber, M.; Forberich, K.; Hauch, J.; Gaudiana, R.; Waller, D.; Zhu, Z.; Hingerl, K.; van Bavel, S. S.; Loos, J.; Brabec, C. J. Nanomorphology and Charge Generation in Bulk Heterojunctions Based on Low-Bandgap Dithiophene Polymers with Different Bridging Atoms Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010, 20, 1180-1188
56. Mukhopadhyay, S.; Ramachandra, S.; Narayan, K. S. Direct Observation of Charge Generating Regions and Transport Pathways in Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells with Asymmetric Electrodes Using Near-Field Photocurrent Microscopy J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 17184-17189
57. Campoy-Quiles, M.; Ferenczi, T.; Agostinelli, T.; Etchegoin, P. G.; Kim, Y.; Anthopoulos, T. D.; Stavrinou, P. N.; Bradley, D. D. C.; Nelson, J. Morphology Evolution via Self-Organization and Lateral and Vertical Diffusion in Polymer:Fullerene Solar Cell Blends Nat. Mater. 2008, 7, 158-164
58. Treat, N. D.; Brady, M. A.; Smith, G.; Toney, M. F.; Kramer, E. J.; Hawker, C. J.; Chabinyc, M. L. Interdiffusion of PCBM and P3HT Reveals Miscibility in a Photovoltaically Active Blend Adv. Energy Mater. 2011, 1, 82-89
59. Ma, W.; Yang, C.; Heeger, A. J. Spatial Fourier-Transform Analysis of the Morphology of Bulk Heterojunction Materials Used in "Plastic" Solar Cells Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 1387-1390
60. Pingree, L. S. C.; Reid, O. G.; Ginger, D. S. Imaging the Evolution of Nanoscale Photocurrent Collection and Transport Networks during Annealing of Polythiophene/Fullerene Solar Cells Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 2946-2952
61. Marken, E.; Maurstad, G.; Stokke, B. T. Quantitative Analysis of Atomic Force Microscopy Topographs of Biopolymer Multilayers: Surface Structure and Polymer Assembly Modes Thin Solid Films 2008, 516, 7770-7776
62. Rajaram, S.; Shivanna, R.; Kandappa, S. K.; Narayan, K. S. Nonplanar Perylene Diimides as Potential Alternatives to Fullerenes in Organic Solar Cells J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2012, 3, 2405-2408