Elemental mapping of interfacial layers at the cathode of organic solar cells

One of the limitations in understanding the performance of organic solar cells has been the unclear picture of morphology and interfacial layers developed at the active layer/cathode interface. Here, by utilizing the shadow-Focused Ion Beam technique to enable energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy imaging in conjunction with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments, we examine the cross-section of polythiophene/fullerene solar cells to characterize interfacial layers near the semiconductor-cathode interface. Elemental mapping reveals that localization of fullerene to the anode interface leads to low fill factors and S-shaped current-voltage characteristics. Furthermore, the combination of elemental mapping and XPS depth profiles of devices demonstrate oxidation of the aluminum cathode at the active layer interface for devices without S-shaped characteristics and fill factors of 0.6. The presence of a thin dielectric at the semiconductor-cathode interface could minimize electronic barriers for charge extraction by preventing interfacial charge reorganization and band-bending.