Investigations of materials and device structures for organic semiconductor solar cells

Jonathan B. Whitlock; Paul Panayotatos; Genesh Sharma; Mary D. Cox; Ronald R. Sauers; George R. Bird

doi:10.1117/12.143713

1 August 1993 Investigations of materials and device structures for organic semiconductor solar cells

Jonathan B. Whitlock, Paul Panayotatos, Genesh Sharma, Mary D. Cox, Ronald R. Sauers, George R. Bird

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 32, Issue 8, (August 1993). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.143713

Abstract

In our work with the phthalocyanines and perylenes, we have formulated a hierarchy of placement of dyes in p-n heterojunction devices to optimize the short-circuit current density. Computer modeling of Schottky barrier cells, with parameters fit to experimental results and incorporating field-dependent carrier generation, were used to optimize the power efficiency. The model predicts an optimum carrier concentration density and suggests different hierarchies for utilization of Förster radiationless energy transfer. Synthesis and purification of materials is also discussed. In terms of purity, most materials used in the literature are shown to have been quite below solar grade. A newly devised purification technique is introduced. A hydration mechanism is shown to exist for chloroaluminum phthalocyanine, previously thought immune to hydration. The latter mechanism had been mistaken before for a simple phase transformation and can be induced by various different treatments with organic nonsolvents for chloroaluminum phthalocyanine. Testing of p-n and Schottky barrier cells is also discussed. The different capacitance versus voltage (C-V) spectroscopies are compared, and the case for the small-signal method is argued over the triangular voltage sweep. Several cautions on the interpretation of the C-V curves are noted.

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Jonathan B. Whitlock, Paul Panayotatos, Genesh Sharma, Mary D. Cox, Ronald R. Sauers, and George R. Bird "Investigations of materials and device structures for organic semiconductor solar cells," Optical Engineering 32(8), (1 August 1993). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.143713

Published: 1 August 1993

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