Performance improvement of P3HT:PCBM organic solar cells: A Numerical study

Here, the optical properties of two-dimensional multilayer organic solar cells (OSC) are investigated. Our structure is composed of a heterojunction mixture of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and 6,6-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the photoactive material, sandwiched between a transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode and an aluminum (Al) backside contact. The optimal thicknesses for each device layer were carefully applied in this work. The proposed theoretical approach is based on Maxwell's equations, and solved on the basis of the finite element method (FEM) using the COMSOL Multiphysics simulator in which AM 1.5 illuminations with an incident intensity of 100 mW/cm
²
is employed. The optical absorption, the reflection spectrum and the generation rate are improved by optimizing the active layer thickness. We found that the higher value of incident-photon-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) could reach 20% at 30 nm wavelength and 15 % in the low wavelength range between 300 nm and 500 nm. This theoretical approach relies on integrating technological advancements that enhance optoelectronic materials efficiency, allowing users to obtain precise data swiftly, and facilitating the effective validation of proof of concept.