Enhanced short-circuit current density in poly(3-hexylthiophene) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6)C61 based organic solar cells by doping small molecular perylene

The authors investigate the effects of a small molecular dye, perylene, on the performance of organic solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and 1-(3-methoxycarbonyl)-propyl-1-phenyl-(6,6)C61 (PCBM) blends. The short-circuit current density is improved, and a maximum 27% enhancement in power conversion efficiency is achieved by doping suitable perylene into P3HT:PCBM blends. It is attributed to be the enhanced absorption of perylene doped P3HT:PCBM blends, which is also confirmed in single-carrier devices. Moreover, the barrier height at the anode/blend is largely lowered from 0.61 eV to 0.28 eV through evaluating temperature dependence of current-voltage characteristics.