Abstract

My lecture will focus on charge separation and recombination in organic solar cells and their impact upon device photovoltaic performance. I will particularly discuss how such studies elucidate materials function in such devices, and thereby lead to materials and device design guidelines which can aid technology development. The talk will be based around discussion of transient optical and optoelectronic studies of yields, lifetimes and densities of dissociated charges in blend films and solar cells. Comparative studies will be presented of different materials systems, including both new polymers and acceptors, as well as small molecule blend and bilayer devices. On the basis of these data, I will address the parameters which influence the impact of geminate and non-geminate recombination upon device efficiency, including the roles of molecular structure, film microstructure, interfacial energetics, and macroscopic electric fields.