Effects of Ytterbium on Electrical and Optical Properties of BCP/Ag/WO3 Transparent Electrode Based Organic Photovoltaic Cells

This study introduces dielectric/metal/dielectric multilayers based on a WO3/Ag/WO3 (WAW) anode and Yb/BCP/Ag/WO3 (Yb/BAW) cathode for use in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Here, the Yb/BCP hybrid multilayer provides an effective electron transport layer (ETL), while the Yb doping ensures that voltage loss due to interfacial band bending is effectively suppressed. Transparent OPVs produced with a structure of WAW/P3HT:PCBM/Yb/BAW are shown to exhibit a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 2.42%, achieving a 65.4% fill factor (FF) under one sun irradiation. These results indicate that the use of Yb in transparent OPVs is vastly superior to other ETLs, as it improves the majority of critical parameters such as short circuit current (J(sc)), fill factor (FF) and PCE. This is attributed to a decrease in the series resistance and increase in the shunt resistance, while an increase in electron mobility also helps to ensure faster sweep out.