Photovoltaics manufactured using organic materials as a substitute for inorganic materials may provide for cheaper production of solar cells if their efficiencies can be made comparable to existing technologies. Photovoltaic devices are comprised of layered structures where the electrical, chemical, and physical properties at the multiple interfaces play a significant role in the operation of the completed device. This thesis attempts to establish a relationship between interfacial properties and overall device performance by investigation of both the organic/organic heterojunction interface, as well as the interface between the inorganic substrate and the first organic layer with useful insights towards enhancing the efficiency of organic solar cells.It has been proposed that residual chemical species may act as barriers to charge transfer at the interface between the transparent conductor (TCO) and the first organic layer, possibly causing a large contact resistance and leading to reduced device performance. Previous work has investigated the surface of the TCO but no baseline characterization of carbon-free surfaces has previously been given. In this work clean surfaces are investigated to develop a fundamental understanding of the intrinsic spectra such that further analyses of contaminated surfaces can be presented systematically and reproducibly to develop a chemical model of the TCO surface.The energy level offset at the organic/organic heterojunction has been proposed to relate to the maximum potential achievable for a solar cell under illumination, however, few experimental observations have been made where both the interface characterization and device performance are presented. Photovoltaic properties are examined in this work with titanyl phthalocyanine used as a novel donor material for enhancement of spectral absorption and optimization of the open-circuit potential. Characterization of the interface between TiOPc and C60 coupled with characterization of the interface between copper phthalocyanine and C60 shows that the higher ionization potential of TiOPc does correlate to greater open circuit potentials.Examination of photovoltaic behavior using equivalent circuit modeling relates the importance of series resistance and recombination to the homogeneity of the solar cell structure.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/195338 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Brumbach, Michael T. |
| Contributors | Armstrong, Neal R., Armstrong, Neal R., Wysocki, Vicki H., Pemberton, Jeanne E., Zheng, Zhiping, Lichtenberger, Dennis L. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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