Bimolecular Recombination Coefficient as a Sensitive Testing Parameter for Low-Mobility Solar-Cell Materials

A. Pivrikas, G. Juška, A. J. Mozer, M. Scharber, K. Arlauskas, N. S. Sariciftci, H. Stubb, and R. Österbacka
Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 176806 – Published 5 May 2005

Abstract

Bimolecular charge carrier recombination has been clarified in bulk-heterojunction solar cells based on a blend of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)propyl-1-phenyl-[6,6]-methanofullerene using the time-of-flight method. We show how bimolecular recombination influences the charge carrier transport, how it limits the efficiency of low-mobility solar cells, and how to estimate the bimolecular recombination coefficient. We found that bimolecular recombination in these efficient photovoltaic materials is orders of magnitude slower as compared to Langevin recombination expected for low-mobility materials. This effect is inherent to the nanomorphology of the bicontinuous interpenetrating network creating separate pathways for electrons and holes, and paves the way for the fabrication of bulk-heterojunction solar cells where bimolecular recombination is not the limiting factor.

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  • Received 8 October 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.176806

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Pivrikas1,2, G. Juška3, A. J. Mozer4, M. Scharber5, K. Arlauskas3, N. S. Sariciftci4, H. Stubb1, and R. Österbacka1,*

  • 1Department of Physics, Åbo Akademi University, Porthansgatan 3, 20500 Turku, Finland
  • 2Graduate School of Materials Research, Universities of Turku, Turku, Finland
  • 3Department of Solid State Electronics, Vilnius University, Saulėtekio 9 III K, 01513 Vilnius, Lithuania
  • 4Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
  • 5Konarka Austria, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz, Austria

  • *Electronic address: rosterba@abo.fi

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Vol. 94, Iss. 17 — 6 May 2005

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