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Textured substrate based organic solar cell for higher absorption and improved performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Kanwar Singh Nalwa ,
Joong Mok Park ,
Wai Leung ,
Kristen Constant ,
Kai Ming Ho  and
Sumit Chaudhary
Kanwar Singh Nalwa
Affiliation:
ksnalwa@iastate.edu, Iowa State University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ames, Iowa, United States
Joong Mok Park
Affiliation:
joongmok@iastate.edu, Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory-USDOE & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ames, United States
Wai Leung
Affiliation:
wleung@iastate.edu, Iowa State University, Microelectronics Research Center, Ames, United States
Kristen Constant
Affiliation:
constant@iastate.edu, Iowa State University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ames, United States
Kai Ming Ho
Affiliation:
kmh@ameslab.gov, Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory-USDOE & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ames, United States
Sumit Chaudhary
Affiliation:
sumitc@iastate.edu, Iowa State University, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ames, Iowa, United States
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Abstract

The performance of polymer-based photovoltaic devices is limited by several factors like high band-gap and low charge-carrier mobility, to name a few. Thicker active-layers have high optical absorption but the transport of carriers in them is inefficient. Thus the optimal thickness of the active-layers has to be determined carefully. This conflict can be resolved using a three-dimensional (3D) microscale textured grating shaped solar cell geometry. The solar cells in this study were fabricated on photoresist gratings to give them 3D texture required for enhanced light absorption. Introduction of texturing has a significant effect on over all power conversion efficiency of the devices. Grating based solar cell having 2 micron pitch showed improved power conversion efficiency over the flat solar cell. In addition to favorable guiding of optical modes, the improvement in efficiency is accomplished by homogenous coverage of the spin-coated active layer, which is a challenging process for non-flat surfaces. Uniform thickness in this study was facilitated by the sufficiently high pitch and low height of the underlying photoresist gratings.

Keywords

photovoltaicpolymerabsorption
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1210: Symposium Q – Photovoltaic Materials and Manufacturing Issues II , 2009 , 1210-Q03-29
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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