MAPLE Deposition of Binary and Ternary Organic Bulk Heterojunctions Based on Zinc Phthalocyanine

Organic bulk heterojunctions (BHJ) based on zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), fullerene compounds (C60 fullerene and [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM)), and 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene (rubrene) were fabricated through the matrix-assisted pulsed-laser evaporation (MAPLE) technique. Thus, ZnPc:C60 and ZnPc:PC70BM binary BHJ and ZnPc:rubrene:PC70BM ternary BHJ were deposited as thin films on various substrates. The preservation of the chemical structure of the organic compounds during the MAPLE deposition was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of the deposited layers were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Further, the electrical properties of the developed structures based on ZnPc:C60, ZnPc:PC70BM, and ZnPc:rubrene:PC70BM were evaluated. The J-V characteristics of the organic structures, recorded under illumination, show that an increase in the open-circuit voltage (V-OC) is achieved in the case of the ternary blend in comparison with that obtained for the binary blends. The results evidenced that MAPLE-deposited thin films containing binary and ternary organic bulk heterojunctions can find applications in the field of photovoltaic devices.