Techniques to Facilitate 3D Analysis of Self-Organized Nanostructure Mechanism in Polymer/Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Device

The realization of solution processed polymer/fullerene as a constituent material for an active layer of solar cell raises a fundamental question relating to the nanostructure formation of these devices and its impact on a device's electrical parameters. To have an insight in nanomorphology and nanostructuring, Raman mapping of the scanned surface after each successive chemical etching is performed to build a picture of a vertical profile. To further support this technique, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) analysis on an etched surface is also performed. The data generated reveals an accurate correlation between these two techniques. To complete these investigations the impact of blend composition ratios on a nanostructure reveals that fullerene plays a critical role in self-organization facilitating the rotation of a favorable face-on the orientation to edge-on allowing the migration of PC71BM towards the film surface. The impact of these investigations on electrical parameters has been addressed.

Automated summary

The study investigates the nanostructure formation and impact on electrical parameters of solution processed polymer/fullerene as an active layer of solar cell. Results show that fullerene plays a critical role in self-organization, facilitating favorable orientation and migration.