Rickard Hansson

Organic heterojunctions: Contact-induced molecular reorientation, interface states, and charge re-distribution.

We reveal the rather complex interplay of contact-induced re-orientation and interfacial electronic structure – in the presence of Fermi-level pinning – at prototypical molecular heterojunctions comprising copper phthalocyanine (H16CuPc) and its perfluorinated analogue (F16CuPc), by employing ultraviolet photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. For both layer sequences, we find that Fermi-level (EF) pinning of the first layer on the conductive polymer substrate modifies the work function encountered by the second layer such that it also becomes EF-pinned, however, at the interface towards the first molecular layer. This results in a charge transfer accompanied by a sheet charge density at the organic/organic interface. While molecules in the bulk of the films exhibit upright orientation, contact formation at the heterojunction results in an interfacial bilayer with lying and co-facial orientation. This interfacial layer is not EF-pinned, but provides for an additional density of states at the interface that is not present in the bulk. With reliable knowledge of the organic heterojunction’s electronic structure we can explain the poor performance of these in photovoltaic cells as well as their valuable function as charge generation layer in electronic devices.

Photo-degradation in air of the active layer components in a thiophene-quinoxaline copolymer: fullerene solar cell

We have studied the photo-degradation in air of a blend of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5-diyl] (TQ1), and how the photo-degradation affects the solar cell performance. Using near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, changes to the electronic structure of TQ1 and PCBM caused by illumination in ambient air are investigated and compared between the pristine materials and the blend. The NEXAFS spectra show that the unoccupied molecular orbitals of TQ1 are not significantly changed by the exposure of pristine TQ1 to light in air, whereas those of PCBM are severely affected as a result of photo-induced degradation of PCBM. Furthermore, the photo-degradation of PCBM is accelerated by blending it with TQ1. While the NEXAFS spectrum of TQ1 remains unchanged upon illumination in air, its valence band spectrum shows that the occupied molecular orbitals are weakly affected. Yet, UV-Vis absorption spectra demonstrate photo-bleaching of TQ1, which is attenuated in the presence of PCBM in blend films. Illumination of the active layer of TQ1:PCBM solar cells prior to cathode deposition causes severe losses in electrical performance.

The influence of oxygen adsorption on the NEXAFS and core-level XPS spectra of the C60 derivative PCBM

Fullerenes have been a main focus of scientific research since their discovery due to the interesting possible applications in various fields like organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In particular, the derivative [6,6]-phenyl-C60-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) is currently one of the most popular choices due to its higher solubility in organic solvents compared to unsubstituted C60. One of the central issues in the field of OPVs is device stability, since modules undergo deterioration (losses in efficiency, open circuit voltage, and short circuit current) during operation. In the case of fullerenes, several possibilities have been proposed, including dimerization, oxidation, and impurity related deterioration. We have studied by means of density functional theory the possibility of oxygen adsorption on the C60 molecular moiety of PCBM. The aim is to provide guidelines for near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements which can probe the presence of atomic or molecular oxygen on the fullerene cage. By analysing several configurations of PCBM with one or more adsorbed oxygen atoms, we show that a joint core level XPS and O1s NEXAFS investigation could be effectively used not only to confirm oxygen adsorption but also to pinpoint the bonding configuration and the nature of the adsorbate.

Fluorescence and UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy studies on polymer blend films for photovoltaics

The quinoxaline-based polymer TQ1 (poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5- diyl]) is a promising candidate as electron donor in organic solar cells. In combination with the electron acceptor [6,6]- phenyl-C71- butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM), TQ1 has resulted in solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 7 %. We have studied TQ1 films, with and without PC70BM, spin-casted from different solvents, by fluorescence spectroscopy and UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy. We used chloroform (CF), chlorobenzene (CB), and odichlorobenzene (o-DCB) as solvents for the coating solutions and 1-chloronaphthalene (CN) as solvent additive. CN addition has been shown to enhance photo-conversion efficiency of these solar cells. Phase-separation causes lateral domain formation in the films and the domain size depends on the solvent . These morphological differences coincide with changes in the spectroscopic patterns of the films. From a spectroscopic point of view, TQ1 acts as fluorescent probe and PC70BM as quencher. The degree of fluorescence quenching is coupled to the morphology through the distance between TQ1 and PC70BM. Furthermore, if using a bad solvent for PC70BM, morphological regions rich in the fullerene yield emission characteristic for aggregated PC70BM. Clear differences were found, comparing the TQ1:PC70BM blend films casted from different solvents and at different ratios between the donor and acceptor. The morphology also influences the UV/VIS absorption spectra, yielding further information on the composition. The results show that fluorescence and UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy can be used to detect aggregation in blended films and that these methods extend the morphological information beyond the scale accessible with microscopy.