MAPLE preparation and characterization of mixed arylenevinylene based oligomers:C60 layers

•New arylenevinylene oligomers layers have been prepared by MAPLE.•Mixed layers have shown an extended Urbach region (∼2eV).•Conductivity has increased with the increase in fullerene concentration.•Carbazole based oligomer:C60 ratio 1:2 mixed layer is promising for photovoltaics. This paper presents some studies about the preparation by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) of mixed layers based on two arylenevinylene oligomers, 1,4-bis [4-(N,N′-diphenylamino)phenylvinyl] benzene (L78) and 3,3′-bis(N-hexylcarbazole)vinylbenzene (L13) as donor and buckminsterfullerene (C60) as acceptor, blended in three different weight ratios: 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3. The optical, morphological, structural and electrical properties of these mixed layers have been investigated emphasizing the effect of the layer composition and of the significant degree of disorder. I–V characteristics have revealed typically solar cell behaviour for the heterostructures prepared with mixed layers containing L78 (L13) and fullerene blended in a weight ratio of 1:2. The solar cell structure glass/ITO/L13:C60/Al has shown the best parameters.