Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 August 2011
A transient response technique has been employed to investigate the lifetime of free polarons in bulk heterojunction blends of regioregular poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methylester (PCBM) at different annealing temperatures. Device efficiency and charge mobility were also measured. The longest lifetime, ∼ 1.5 microseceonds, was achieved for an annealing temperature of 140˚C; this represents a 2.5 x increase in lifetime relative to unannealed samples. The 140˚C annealing temperature also yields the highest efficiency. These measurements provide an estimate of the mobility-lifetime product, a figure of merit for charge transport in organic bulk heterojunctions.