Exciton recombination in the fullerene phase of bulk heterojunction organic solar cells
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Finding alternatives to fossil fuel energy sources is necessary to stem global warming, to provide economic and political independence, and to keep up with increasing energy demand. Because of their low cost, flexibility, and because the material resources needed to make them are abundant, organic polymer solar cells are an attractive alternative to conventional solar technology. Organic solar technology has been developing rapidly; however, with the best power conversion efficiencies at ~8%, much improvement is needed before it can be competitive with established solar technologies. Poly-3-hexylthiophene:[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) solar cells are the most studied type of organic solar cell. Nevertheless, their loss mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this work, we study excitonic losses in the PCBM phase of the blend. We develop a way to accurately measure internal quantum efficiencies (IQEs) and use this technique to characterize P3HT:PCBM devices. We observe spectral dependence of the IQE and conclude that a majority of excitons generated in the PCBM are lost to Auger recombination with polarons that are trapped in that phase. We also provide evidence that this process may happen in other materials and may be a critical factor in limiting exciton diffusion in organic semiconductors.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Burkhard, George Frederick |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics |
| Primary advisor | Fisher, Ian R. (Ian Randal) |
| Primary advisor | McGehee, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Fisher, Ian R. (Ian Randal) |
| Thesis advisor | McGehee, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Salleo, Alberto |
| Advisor | Salleo, Alberto |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | George Frederick Burkhard. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Applied Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by George Frederick Burkhard
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...