Thermally Induced Fullerene Domain Coarsening Process in Organic Solar Cells

The recent advancements in power conversion efficiency for organic solar cells is still complained by their reliability and stability remaining the main bottlenecks for organic photovoltaics large scale production and commercialization. In this paper, we aim to provide further insights understanding in degradation processes affecting stability in small molecule flat heterojunction (Glass/ITO/MoO
₃
/ZnPc/C
₆₀
/BCP/Ag) solar cells through a systematic aging study coupled with optoelectrical characterizations. In particular, the burn-in phenomenon affecting short-circuit current in thermal-stressed samples has been clearly correlated with the C
₆₀
domain coarsening process and eventually to the decreased exciton lifetime.