The Optical Properties of Organic Photovoltaic PM6:Y6 Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

As Organic solar cells (OSCs) become a promising complementary to traditional inorganic solar cells, studying the optical properties of OSCs plays a critical role to understand and improve the performance of organic solar cells. Studying optical properties is essential because it can help to understand how light interacts with the materials used in organic solar cells, which can help to improve the efficiency of organic solar cells. In this work, the optical properties of the organic photovoltaic system PM6:Y6 prepared from two different solvents, namely, chloroform and o-xylene, were investigated. The optical constants, specifically the refractive index and absorption coefficient of thin films of these materials, and the effects of thermal annealing on the optical properties were studied. The optical properties of isotropic and anisotropic organic materials were also compared, and the obtained optical constants were used to simulate the optical properties of the devices using the transfer matrix approach. The results suggest that more accurate measurements and analysis of the optical constants help to achieve more accurate simulations. This, in turn, provides more information about how the molecular orientation affects the optical properties of OSCs. However, it is important to note that the optical properties of PM6:Y6 blends that were studied are limited to those obtained under the conditions used to prepare the films. In fact, changes in the thickness or concentrations of solutions will need to be considered as well. Lastly, the glass transition temperature was determined using the change in the ellipsometric data (Ψ). This helps to select and test different thermal annealing temperatures for the material system, which could improve the efficiency of the respective solar cells.

Date of Award	Aug 5 2023
Original language	English (US)
Awarding Institution	Physical Sciences and Engineering
Supervisor	Frédéric Laquai (Supervisor)