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Updated: May 18, 2026

In situ Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering on Roll-To-Roll Coating of Organic Solar Cells with Laboratory X-ray Instrumentation
Published on: March 2, 2021
Multijunction organic photovoltaics with a broad spectral response
Jill A Macko1, Richard R Lunt, Timothy P Osedach
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
We developed novel multijunction organic photovoltaics using a transposed subcell design. This approach enhances power conversion efficiency by optimizing light absorption and minimizing energy losses in organic solar cells.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Organic Electronics
- Renewable Energy
Background:
- Multijunction organic photovoltaics (OPVs) offer potential for higher efficiencies.
- Optimizing subcell arrangement is crucial for maximizing light harvesting and performance.
- Vapor-deposition techniques enable monolithic fabrication of complex OPV structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate series-integrated multijunction organic photovoltaics fabricated monolithically.
- To investigate the effect of a transposed subcell order on device performance.
- To optimize subcell arrangement and thicknesses for enhanced efficiency.
Main Methods:
- Monolithic fabrication using vapor-deposition.
- Transposed subcell ordering with near-infrared (NIR) absorbing subcell in front of green-absorbing subcell.
- Optimization of subcell order and thicknesses using transfer-matrix formalism and short-circuit current simulations.
- Fabrication of an efficient charge recombination zone (BCP/Ag/MoOx).
Main Results:
- Achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.5 ± 0.2% under 1-sun illumination.
- Demonstrated negligible voltage and series-resistance losses due to an efficient recombination zone.
- Obtained a open-circuit voltage (V(OC)) of 1.65 ± 0.02 V, summing the V(OC) of component subcells.
- Exhibited broad spectral response from 350 nm to 850 nm.
Conclusions:
- The transposed subcell order is effective for multijunction organic photovoltaics.
- Vapor-deposition and optimized recombination zones enable high-performance devices.
- Further improvements in subcell external quantum efficiencies are needed to enhance overall device performance.
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