Film Morphology of High Efficiency Solution-Processed Small-Molecule Solar Cells

Morphological control over the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) microstructure of a high-efficiency small molecule photovoltaic system is demonstrated using both thermal treatment and solvent additive processing. Single crystal X-ray diffraction is utilized to understand molecular interactions in the solid state and the BHJ morphology is examined using bright field, high-resolution, and cross-section transmission electron microscopy techniques. Controlling the domain size, while maintaining good molecular order within the semiconducting donor material, is found to be crucial in achieving high performance and over 90% internal quantum efficiency exhibited under the optimized conditions.