Total charge amount as indicator for the degradation of small molecule organic solar cells

Journal article

We show that the number of extracted charge carriers is a suitable measure to compare lifetime measurements on organic solar cells at different intensities. In detail, we used pin-structures with active layers containing a bulk heterojunction of Zincphthalocyanine (ZnPc) and C₆₀. Extended lifetime measurements under constant monochromatic or white illumination at defined temperatures of 50 °C or 90 °C are done. On the one hand, we show that the number of extracted charge carriers is important to determine the degree of degradation. On the other hand, our results show that the energy of irradiated photons is significant for accelerated measurements. This is an major advantage for the realisation of accelerated lifetime measurements. Additionally, we find that not single charge carriers, but excitons cause the degradation of the observed solar cells. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Authors: Hermenau, M; Scholz, S; Leo, K; Riede, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
• Volume: 95
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1278-1283
• Publication date: 2011-05-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2010.09.031
• ISSN: 0927-0248
• Language: English
• Keywords: ALT; Degradation; Small molecule organic solar cell; Lifetime Stability