Visualizing the Link Between Nanomorphology and Energetic Disorder in 3D Organic Solar Cells

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Hauptverfasser: Çiloğlu, Pelin, Tretmans, Carmen, Deibel, Carsten, Pietschmann, Jan-F., Stoll, Martin, MacKenzie, Roderick C. I.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Çiloğlu, Pelin
Tretmans, Carmen
Deibel, Carsten
Pietschmann, Jan-F.
Stoll, Martin
MacKenzie, Roderick C. I.
author_facet Çiloğlu, Pelin
Tretmans, Carmen
Deibel, Carsten
Pietschmann, Jan-F.
Stoll, Martin
MacKenzie, Roderick C. I.
contents The performance of organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells is highly sensitive to both nanomorphology and energetic disorder arising from microscopic molecular packing and structural defects. However, most models used to understand these devices are either one-dimensional effective medium approximations that neglect spatial and energetic disorder or three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations that are computationally intensive. In this work, we present the results from a three-dimensional hybrid model capable of operating at both high carrier densities and incorporating the effects of energetic disorder. We first generate realistic morphologies using a phase-field approach that accounts for solvent evaporation during film formation. Using these example morphologies, we systematically study the interplay between energetic disorder and configurational disorder at carrier densities representative of real device operation. This enables us to separate and visualize the impact of the nanomorphology and energetic disorder on device performance. Our results reveal that, even when macroscopic percolation pathways remain intact, energetic disorder limits performance primarily through suppressed charge extraction in interconnected domains. This suggest that optimizing molecular packing at the nanoscale is as critical as controlling phase separation at the mesoscale, highlighting the need for multiscale design strategies in next-generation BHJ devices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_20040
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Visualizing the Link Between Nanomorphology and Energetic Disorder in 3D Organic Solar Cells
Çiloğlu, Pelin
Tretmans, Carmen
Deibel, Carsten
Pietschmann, Jan-F.
Stoll, Martin
MacKenzie, Roderick C. I.
Applied Physics
Computational Physics
The performance of organic bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells is highly sensitive to both nanomorphology and energetic disorder arising from microscopic molecular packing and structural defects. However, most models used to understand these devices are either one-dimensional effective medium approximations that neglect spatial and energetic disorder or three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations that are computationally intensive. In this work, we present the results from a three-dimensional hybrid model capable of operating at both high carrier densities and incorporating the effects of energetic disorder. We first generate realistic morphologies using a phase-field approach that accounts for solvent evaporation during film formation. Using these example morphologies, we systematically study the interplay between energetic disorder and configurational disorder at carrier densities representative of real device operation. This enables us to separate and visualize the impact of the nanomorphology and energetic disorder on device performance. Our results reveal that, even when macroscopic percolation pathways remain intact, energetic disorder limits performance primarily through suppressed charge extraction in interconnected domains. This suggest that optimizing molecular packing at the nanoscale is as critical as controlling phase separation at the mesoscale, highlighting the need for multiscale design strategies in next-generation BHJ devices.
title Visualizing the Link Between Nanomorphology and Energetic Disorder in 3D Organic Solar Cells
topic Applied Physics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.20040