Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV22)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.hopv.2022.149
Publication date: 20th April 2022
While there have been significant strides in improvements to organic solar cell (OSC) power conversion efficiencies using non-fullerene acceptors and novel benzodithophene and benzodithiophene-dione co-polymers, many of these new polymers still suffer from intrinsic degradation via photooxidation or light-induced cross-linking [1]. PCDTBT, a co-polymer of carbazole and dithienyl-benzothiadiazole, has remained among one of the most stable donor polymers to-date [2,3]. PCDTBT has recently been employed as a donor component in ternary blend OSCs [4], and as a hole transport layer in perovskite solar cells, resulting in improvements to device efficiency and stability [5]. Thus, understanding properties of neat PCDTBT thin-films is of great importance for determining how to best employ this stable co-polymer in highly efficient and stable OSC devices.
In this work, we fabricated PCDTBT unipolar hole-only devices in a metal-insulator-metal Schottky photodiode geometry. Neat PCDTBT thin-films are challenging to prepare due to their poor solubility in typical organic solvents and ease of aggregation. We optimized PCDTBT thin-films by varying the solvent, molecular weight, heating times and temperatures, and filtering conditions. To evaluate the quality of PCDTBT thin-films with low degree of aggregation, we used a relatively unexplored technique of polarized light microscopy (PLM) [6]. PLM is a non-destructive, wide-field technique that allows elucidation of birefringent materials, such as conjugated polymers, giving enhanced contrast compared to standard bright-field light microscopy (BFM). We used PLM to rapidly evaluate the quality of PCDTBT thin-films in order to find optimal conditions for uniform thin-films with low aggregation.
By using optical transfer matrix methods (TMM) simulations and experimental measurements of transmission and sheet resistivity, we further optimized conditions for transparent Au electrodes. TMM simulations revealed the optimal thickness of each layer to maximize photocurrent generation. Finally, using optimized conditions, we fabricated PCDTBT photodiodes in a Au/MoOx/PCDTBT/Ag geometry for thick (200 nm) and thin (80 nm) PCDTBT layers. We extracted the Schottky barrier height and hole mobility of PCDTBT from current-voltage measurements and drift-diffusion simulations, respectively.
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.