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P-N junction

P-N junction

A p-n junction is formed when p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are joined together. At the interface of the p-n junction, holes from the p-side and electrons from the n-side begin to diffuse into the opposite sides due to the concentration gradient. This diffusion of carriers leads to a region around the junction where there are no free charge carriers, known as the depletion region. The charge density within the depletion region for the n-side and p-side can be described by the...

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Updated: May 25, 2026

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Printing Fabrication of Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells and In Situ Morphology Characterization

Published on: January 29, 2017

Time-resolved structural evolution of additive-processed bulk heterojunction solar cells.

James T Rogers¹, Kristin Schmidt, Michael F Toney

¹Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|January 27, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Adding octanedithiol (ODT) to polymer solar cell blends accelerates the formation and ordering of crystalline structures. This additive-induced molecular ordering significantly enhances the bulk heterojunction morphology for improved device performance.

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Organic Electronics
Photovoltaics

Background:

Solution deposition with high-boiling-point additives like octanedithiol (ODT) is a common method to enhance power conversion efficiencies in organic solar cells.
Additives are known to influence phase segregation and molecular ordering within the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) active layers of polymer/fullerene blends.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the dynamic evolution of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) morphology during solution deposition.
To understand the role of octanedithiol (ODT) in influencing the crystallization and ordering processes in conjugated polymer solar cells.

Main Methods:

Utilized in situ grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) as a function of time to monitor BHJ evolution.
Compared the structural changes of BHJ blends cast from chlorobenzene (CB) with and without the addition of ODT.

Main Results:

A small percentage of ODT in CB rapidly induced nucleation of polymeric crystallites within 2 minutes of deposition.
ODT significantly increased the orientational order of specific polymorphs and promoted sustained crystallite nucleation for over 40 minutes.
No similar structural changes were observed when the BHJ blend was cast from pure CB, highlighting the crucial role of ODT.

Conclusions:

Octanedithiol (ODT) acts as a potent nucleating agent, dramatically accelerating and controlling the self-assembly of conjugated polymers in BHJ solar cells.
The additive-mediated ordering and crystallization are critical for optimizing the morphology and performance of organic photovoltaic devices.