Understanding the fill-factor limit of organic solar cells

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Huotian, Yuan, Jun, Wang, Tong, Tokmoldin, Nurlan, Jasiunas, Rokas, Liu, Yiting, Pranav, Manasi, Li, Yuxuan, Zhang, Xiaolei, Gulbinas, Vidmantas, Shoaee, Safa, Zou, Yingping, Coropceanu, Veaceslav, Bakulin, Artem A., Neher, Dieter, Kirchartz, Thomas, Gao, Feng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Huotian
Yuan, Jun
Wang, Tong
Tokmoldin, Nurlan
Jasiunas, Rokas
Liu, Yiting
Pranav, Manasi
Li, Yuxuan
Zhang, Xiaolei
Gulbinas, Vidmantas
Shoaee, Safa
Zou, Yingping
Coropceanu, Veaceslav
Bakulin, Artem A.
Neher, Dieter
Kirchartz, Thomas
Gao, Feng
author_facet Zhang, Huotian
Yuan, Jun
Wang, Tong
Tokmoldin, Nurlan
Jasiunas, Rokas
Liu, Yiting
Pranav, Manasi
Li, Yuxuan
Zhang, Xiaolei
Gulbinas, Vidmantas
Shoaee, Safa
Zou, Yingping
Coropceanu, Veaceslav
Bakulin, Artem A.
Neher, Dieter
Kirchartz, Thomas
Gao, Feng
contents Although the power conversion efficiencies of organic solar cells (OSCs) have surpassed 20%, they still lag behind commercial inorganic solar cells and emerging perovskite solar cells. To bridge this efficiency gap, improving the fill factor (FF) is critical, provided other photovoltaic parameters are not compromised. However, the fundamental understanding of the FF in OSCs remains incomplete. In this work, we systematically investigate a wide range of OSCs with the FF values spanning 0.27 to 0.80, and analyse the effect of free charge generation and recombination on the FF in OSCs. To explain our observations, we developed an analytical model that quantitatively correlates the applied electric field with the energetics of excited states in donor-acceptor blends. By combining device characterisation, spectroscopy, and theoretical modelling, we reveal that the Stark effect and the field-dependent charge transfer significantly impact the FF in state-of-the-art OSCs with low voltage losses. Our findings highlight that suppressing geminate decay by increasing exciton lifetime is a promising strategy for boosting the FF and achieving future efficiency gains in OSCs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22217
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Understanding the fill-factor limit of organic solar cells
Zhang, Huotian
Yuan, Jun
Wang, Tong
Tokmoldin, Nurlan
Jasiunas, Rokas
Liu, Yiting
Pranav, Manasi
Li, Yuxuan
Zhang, Xiaolei
Gulbinas, Vidmantas
Shoaee, Safa
Zou, Yingping
Coropceanu, Veaceslav
Bakulin, Artem A.
Neher, Dieter
Kirchartz, Thomas
Gao, Feng
Materials Science
Applied Physics
Although the power conversion efficiencies of organic solar cells (OSCs) have surpassed 20%, they still lag behind commercial inorganic solar cells and emerging perovskite solar cells. To bridge this efficiency gap, improving the fill factor (FF) is critical, provided other photovoltaic parameters are not compromised. However, the fundamental understanding of the FF in OSCs remains incomplete. In this work, we systematically investigate a wide range of OSCs with the FF values spanning 0.27 to 0.80, and analyse the effect of free charge generation and recombination on the FF in OSCs. To explain our observations, we developed an analytical model that quantitatively correlates the applied electric field with the energetics of excited states in donor-acceptor blends. By combining device characterisation, spectroscopy, and theoretical modelling, we reveal that the Stark effect and the field-dependent charge transfer significantly impact the FF in state-of-the-art OSCs with low voltage losses. Our findings highlight that suppressing geminate decay by increasing exciton lifetime is a promising strategy for boosting the FF and achieving future efficiency gains in OSCs.
title Understanding the fill-factor limit of organic solar cells
topic Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22217