Understanding S-shaped current-voltage characteristics of organic solar cells: Direct measurement of potential distributions by scanning Kelvin probe

Rebecca Saive*, Christian Mueller, Janusz Schinke, Robert Lovrincic, Wolfgang Kowalsky

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

We present a comparison of the potential distribution along the cross section of bilayer poly(3-hexylthiophene)/1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1- phenyl[6,6]C61 (P3HT/PCBM) solar cells, which show normal and anomalous, S-shaped current-voltage (IV) characteristics. We expose the cross sections of the devices with a focussed ion beam and measure them with scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. We find that in the case of S-shaped IV-characteristics, there is a huge potential drop at the PCBM/Al top contact, which does not occur in solar cells with normal IV-characteristics. This behavior confirms the assumption that S-shaped curves are caused by hindered charge transport at interfaces.

Original languageEnglish
Article number243303
JournalApplied physics letters
Volume103
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Dec 2013
Externally publishedYes

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