Geminate electron-hole recombination in organic solids in the presence of a donor-acceptor heterojunction

Geminate electron-hole recombination is one of the main factors limiting the efficiency of organic solar cells. We present a systematic study of this process based on both analytical and simulation models. We determine how the charge-pair separation probability is affected by the hopping length of charge carriers, the presence of a donor-acceptor heterojunction, electron and hole mobilities, and other factors. We show that the charge-pair separation probability of an electron and a hole which are initially at the contact distance is maximized when the electron and hole mobilities are equal to each other. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3397992]