Detailed analysis of bathocuproine layer for organic solar cells based on copper phthalocyanine and C60

The electrical characteristics of double heterojunction organic solar cells with various thicknesses of bathocuproine (BCP) as an exciton-blocking layer (EBL) were studied. A theoretical analysis using optical transfer matrix theory was carried out to obtain insight into how the EBL influences light-absorbing and exciton-transporting properties in the organic layers. The results showed that by employing an 8-10 nm BCP layer exciton density was increased by 46%. By using an improved equivalent circuit model, photovoltaic characteristics were parametrized and modeled, which revealed that the thin BCP layer <10 nm did not affect the charge collection process. The mechanism of metallic cathode influence on solar cells was also discussed. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3103328]